ed to them with the rude
tyranny on one side and mean servility on the other which one too often
sees, but pressed upon them with true knightly chivalry, and received,
not carelessly as due and usual, but with affectionate deprecation and
reluctance. Yet there was not the slightest affectation of affection,
than which no affectation is more nauseous. True affection,
undoubtedly, does often exist where its expression is caricatured, but
the caricature is not less despicable. The pride of the father in his
daughters was charming,--it was so natural, so fatherly, so frank, so
irresistible, and never offensively exhibited. There was not a taint
of show or selfishness in their mutual regard. They had eyes and ears
and ready hands for everybody.

And they were admirable travellers. They never had any discomforts.
They never found the food bad, or the beds hard, or the servants
stupid. They never were tired when anything was to be done, or cross
when it had been done, or under any circumstances peevish, or pouty or
"offish." They were ready for everything and content with anything.
It was a pleasure to give them a pleasure, because their pleasure was
so manifest. They looked eagerly at everything and into everything.
The younger one, indeed, was so interested, that she often forgot her
feet in her bright, observant eyes, which would lead her right on and
on, regardless of the course of others, till she was discovered to be
missing, a search instituted, and the wanderer returned smiling, but
not disconcerted. They were never restless, uneasy, discontented,
wanting to go somewhere else, or stay longer when every one was ready
to go, or annoying their friends by rushing into needless danger. They
never brought their personal tastes into conflict with the general
convenience. They were thoroughly free from affectation. They never
seemed to say or do anything with a view to the impression it would
make, or even to suspect that they should make an impression. They
were just fond enough of dress to array themselves with neatness,
freshness, a pretty little touch of youthful ornament, and a very nice
sense of fitness. But they were never occupied with their dress, and
they had only as much as was necessary,--though that may have been a
mother's care,--and what of them was not the result of wise parental
care? They did not talk about GENTLEMEN. They had evidently been
brought up in familiar contact with the thing, so t