ttle beneath a middle-aged lady's dignity.

Her parents had been a very ordinary couple in a country town. They and
the society they frequented were uncultivated, and uninterested in
everything that was going on in the world outside. The men, of course,
were occupied with their professions, and almost all the ladies had
large growing families, which gave full scope for their energies.
Henrietta had not their duties, and was better off than the majority of
them, but she did not find time hang heavy on her hands. Long ere this
she had learnt the art of getting through the day with the minimum of
employment. Now, of course, her various duties gave her a certain amount
to do, but not enough to occupy her mind profitably. She often said, "I
am so busy I really haven't a moment to spare," and quite sincerely
declined the charge of a district, because she had no time. If any
visitors were coming to stay, she spoke of the preparations and the work
they entailed, as if all was performed by her single pair of hands.
"What with Louie and Edward coming to-morrow, and Harold going to the
Tyrol on Wednesday, I cannot think how I shall manage, but I suppose,"
with a resigned smile, "I shall get through somehow." She was persuaded
into visiting a small hospital once a fortnight for an hour, and the day
and hour were much dreaded by her entourage, so vastly did they loom on
the horizon, and so submissively must every other event wait on their
convenience.

Minna and Louie often came on visits with their children. The three
sisters got on much better than formerly, though Minna and Louie were
both too much absorbed in their own interests to give Henrietta a large
place in their thoughts. Minna's husband failed early in health, before
he had had time to fulfil his promising early prospects, while Louie's
Colonel, when he retired from the army, occupied his leisure in
speculation, and greatly diminished that attractive fortune of his. All
three sisters had a certain amount of money left to them by their
mother, but in spite of this Minna and Louie were now both,
comparatively speaking, poor, while Henrietta, with no one dependent on
her, and a large allowance from her father, was comfortably off. Louie
and Minna quite gave up talking of "poor Henrietta," and "Really
Henrietta has done very well for herself," was a remark frequently
exchanged.

Henrietta had always been generous, and her sisters soon came to expect
as a right that she sh