and said the Government did not do justice to the squatters. Mr. Hammond certainly was a little extravagant about horses, but his wife allowed it, because she thought he could afford it, and gentlemen must have some hobby or other. It was the only matter in which his judgment was superior to hers, and as he had got a name for keeping excellent stock he did not lose much even on that.
Mrs. Hammond was therefore going steadily up. If she married her husband without any absorbing attachment, she had a large stock of prudence, and she made the very best of all the elements of her life. She was passionately fond of her children, and so was Mr. Hammond; indeed they were fonder of their children than they were of each other. It was the strongest tie between them—much stronger than the tie of mutual interest. Miss Hope had not told her lover of her first attachment; it could do no good and was quite unnecessary. There were so many mortifying circumstances connected with it that she preferred to keep silence on the whole affair, and begin her new life in a new country with every advantage. She might have been happier, and of course she would have been of more importance as Mrs. Derrick than as Mrs. Hammond, but on the whole she was very comfortable and had much in her power. She had been able to assist her
