fort to repress it
must have cost them horrible pain. Adela, the youngest of the three,
transferred her inward joy to the cottage children, whose staring
faces from garden porch and gate flashed by the carriage windows. "How
delighted they look!" she exclaimed more than once, and informed her
sisters that a country life was surely the next thing to Paradise.
"Those children do look so happy!" Thus did the weak one cunningly
relieve herself. Arabella occupied her mind by giving Emilia leading
hints for conduct in the great house. "On the whole, though there is no
harm in your praising particular dishes, as you do at home, it is better
in society to say nothing on those subjects until your opinion is asked:
and when you speak, it should be as one who passes the subject by.
Appreciate flavours, but no dwelling on them! The degrees of an
expression of approbation, naturally enough, vary with age. Did my
instinct prompt me to the discussion of these themes, I should be
allowed greater licence than you." And here Arabella was unable to
resist a little bit of the indulgence Adela had taken: "You are sure to
pass a most agreeable evening, and one that you will remember."

North Pole sat high above such petty consolation; seldom speaking,
save just to show that her ideas ranged at liberty, and could be
spontaneously sympathetic on selected topics.

Their ceremonious entrance to the state-room of Richford accomplished,
the ladies received the greeting of the affable hostess; quietly
perturbed, but not enough so to disorder their artistic contemplation of
her open actions, choice of phrase, and by-play. Without communication
or pre-arrangement, each knew that the other would not let slip the
opportunity, and, after the first five minutes of languid general
converse; they were mentally at work comparing notes with one another's
imaginary conversations, while they said "Yes," and "Indeed," and "I
think so," and appeared to belong to the world about them.

"Merthyr, I do you the honour to hand this young lady to your charge,"
said Lady Gosstre, putting on equal terms with Emilia a gentleman of
perhaps five-and-thirty years; who reminded her of Mr. Barrett, but
was unclouded by that look of firm sadness which characterized the poor
organist. Mr. Powys was a travelled Welsh squire, Lady Gosstre's best
talker, on whom, as Brookfield learnt to see, she could perfectly rely
to preserve the child from any little drawing-room sins or dinn