ither at her will.

John thought of all these things at intervals; and then, when he
thought of the quiet, sober, respectable life at Springdale, of the
good old staple families, with their steady ways,--of the girls in his
neighborhood with their reading societies, their sewing-circles for
the poor, their book-clubs and art-unions for practice in various
accomplishments,--he thought, with apprehension, that there appeared
not a spark of interest in his charmer's mind for any thing in this
direction. She never had read any thing,--knew nothing on all those
subjects about which the women and young girls in his circle were
interested; while, in Springdale, there were none of the excitements
which made her interested in life. He could not help perceiving that
Lillie's five hundred particular friends were mostly of the other sex,
and wondering whether he alone, when the matter should be reduced to
that, could make up to her for all her retinue of slaves.

Like most good boys who grow into good men, John had unlimited faith
in women. Whatever little defects and flaws they might have, still at
heart he supposed they were all of the same substratum as his mother
and sister. The moment a woman was married, he imagined that all the
lovely domestic graces would spring up in her, no matter what might
have been her previous disadvantages, merely because she was a woman.
He had no doubt of the usual orthodox oak-and-ivy theory in relation
to man and woman; and that his wife, when he got one, would be the
clinging ivy that would bend her flexible tendrils in the way his
strong will and wisdom directed. He had never, perhaps, seen, in
southern regions, a fine tree completely smothered and killed in the
embraces of a gay, flaunting parasite; and so received no warning from
vegetable analogies.

Somehow or other, he was persuaded, he should gradually bring his wife
to all his own ways of thinking, and all his schemes and plans and
opinions. This might, he thought, be difficult, were she one of the
pronounced, strong-minded sort, accustomed to thinking and judging for
herself. Such a one, he could easily imagine, there might be a risk
in encountering in the close intimacy of domestic life. Even in his
dealings with his sister, he was made aware of a force of character
and a vigor of intellect that sometimes made the carrying of his own
way over hers a matter of some difficulty. Were it not that Grace was
the best of women, and her way