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��Ethel Free^nan.
��Florry. " I should like to stay where I can see Mrs. Hamilton. Besides, dear mamma," she added hastily, "you know I am not really strong
yet."
"I wished very much to take you with me, but if you prefer it you may remain at home," said her moth- er, surprised and hurt.
And so it was settled. Ethel went home for a long visit, leaving Florry behind ; and this, though more for the child's sake than her own, she afterward bitterly regretted.
��At first, Mrs. Freeman was only conscious of unmixed delight at beins; once more in her childhood's home for what seemed a very long and in- definite period. Father and mother were overjoyed at her presence : hav- ing her there by herself seemed to them like having back their Ethel of the old times. It was a genuine pleasure to find herself again the cynosure of her former circle, and she was pleased to see that she retained her former prestige. In truth, her girlish beauty was not faded, but per- fected and grown richer. Her old friends came flocking to see her — most of her girl companions grown matronly with blooming children, and the men grown stouter and generally bald — often curious to discover, if possible, whether she had really cho- sen wisely, and whetl^r her lot had fallen in pleasant places.
But Ethel was loyal to the core. Never by manner or least word or tone of voice did she betray that her husband or her home had proven less than the most exacting could have desired. Concerning the high-flown
��ladies she was less reticent, making fun to her heart's content of their es- says on Greek and Latin and German literature, and detailing their ponder- ous conversation for the merciless ridicule of her friends.
She found presently, however, that she could not take up the old life where it was left off. She was not the same Ethel. The whole memory of what had intervened, and the change in her very nature wrought by it, rendered the old life impossible. She could never more be a young girl, romantically longing to be an inspira- tion to a world-weary man : she was Jane Eyre no longer, but a full grown woman with a sorrowful experiehce. The girl had developed into the wo- man ; the woman could not be re- pressed into the girl.
The time of her return drew on apace ; and was it strange, or only natural, that she looked forward to going back to her husband's home,
even to the despised city of P ,
with earnest joy fulness? She longed to see the children, especially Florry — she had so much to be thankful for in them. And she and George would talk honestly and unreservedly to- gether of past mistakes and misun- derstandings, and then begin life anew. They should be happy to- gether yet ; she was sure of it, and she could hardly wait for the day of her de|)arture, formerly so much dreaded, so eager was she to begin the new life with her husband.
When she reached the depot at P , above the cries of the coach- men and hack-drivers — the brethren of the whip at P have their as- pirations too, and make up in noise what they lack in numbers, seeming
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