On sunny days she was allowed the outside air; on stormy
days she was kept within. She toiled not, neither did she spin.
Nothing was required of her except colourless acquiescence in a life
of torpid, unnatural, unendurable _ennui_.
The young lady's only guardian was a wealthy maiden aunt, who was as
rich as she was old maidish--a statement likely to thrill the heart of
any mammon-worshipper among her acquaintance--and whose special pride
was the exemplary manner in which she had brought up her brother's
child. The daring young fellow who had presumed to fall in love with
this model niece followed her uninvited into the family sitting-room
on returning from their ride, a proceeding which rather alarmed the
gentle Anna, though her much dreaded relative was absent. He did not
sit down, but took a decisive stand on the hearth-rug. He looked like
a man who has something he must say, though the saying of it will all
but cost him his life. She sat down with a strange foreboding at her
heart of something terrible to come. The austere influences of her
aunt's home were upon her. She sat in prim composure, pale hands
clasped, and pale lids drooping upon cheeks that had lost every
particle of the warmth and glow gained by exercise.
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