To write and to receive letters from home were her greatest pleasures,
for the separation tried her terribly.
It was difficult, too, for one who had lived a free, careless life, to
have to do everything by rule, and submit to restraint in even the
smallest matters.
In spite of her efforts to be cheerful and to keep from all complaining,
Edith grew paler and thinner, and so quiet, that Aunt Rachel was quite
pleased with what she called her niece's "becoming demeanour."
The girl was growing fast; she was undoubtedly learning much that was
useful and good, but no one knew what it cost her to go quietly on from
day to day and never send one passionate word to the distant home,
imploring her father to let her return to the beloved circle again.
[Sidenote: A Welcome Letter]
But the six months, though they had seemed such a long time to look
forward to, flew quickly by when there were so many things to be done
and learned in them. Edith began to wonder very much in the last few
weeks whether she had really been able to please her aunt or not.
It was not Miss Harley's way to praise or commend her niece at all.
Young people required setting down and keeping in their proper places,
she thought, rather than having their vanity flattered. Yet she could
not be blind to Edith's honest and earnest efforts to please and to
learn, and at the end of the six months a letter went to Winchcomb,
which made both Dr.
Pages:
379
380
381
382
383
384
385
386
387
388
389
390
391
392
393
394
395
396
397
398
399
400
401
402
403