to keep upright."

"But women are admired for influence."

"Influence is a good thing in its way, but only of a good sort when it
is unconscious. At any rate, when you set to work to influence people,
take care it is only with a view to their good, and not to your own
personal wishes, or influencing becomes a dangerous trade, especially
for young ladies towards their elders."

Grandpapa, who had only seen Henrietta carried about by Beatrice,
grandmamma, or Fred, and willing to oblige them all, had little idea how
applicable to her case was his general maxim, nor indeed did she at the
moment take it to herself, although it was one day to return upon her.
It brought them to the neat cottage of the carpenter, with the thatched
workshop behind, and the garden in front, which would have looked neat
but for the melancholy aspect of the frost-bitten cabbages.

This was Henrietta's first cottage visit, and she was all eagerness
and interest, picturing to herself a venerable old man, almost as
fine-looking as her grandfather, and as eloquent as old men in cottages
always are in books; but she found it rather a disappointing meeting. It
was a very nice trim-looking daughter-in-law who opened the door, on
Mr. Langford's knock, and the room was neatness itself, but the old
carpenter was not at all what she had imagined. He was a little stooping
old man, with a shaking head, and weak red eyes under a green shade, and
did not seem to have anything to say beyond "Yes, sir," and "Thank
you, sir," when Mr. Langford shouted into his deaf ears some of
the "compliments of the season." Looking at the young lady, whom he
evidently mistook for Beatrice, he hoped that Mr. and Mrs. Geoffrey were
quite well. His face lighted up a little for a moment when Mr. Langford
told him this was Mr. Frederick's daughter, but it was only for an
instant, and in a somewhat querulous voice he asked if there was not a
young gentleman too.

"O yes," said Mr. Langford, "he shall come and see you some day."

"He would not care to see a poor old man," said Daniels, turning a
little away, while his daughter-in-law began to apologise for him by
saying, "He is more lost than usual to-day, sir; I think it was getting
tired going to church, yesterday morning; he did not sleep well, and he
has been so fretful all the morning, a body did not know what to do with
him."

Mr. Langford said a few more cheerful words to the poor old man, then
asked the daughter where h