"But if they had something vastly better than the respect of the careless and uncultured, need they mind what these would say?" "Possibly not; but in most women's hearts there is an innate love of adornment, and the art they will not relegate very willingly to others." "I did not think you cared so much for dress." "You and Mr. Winthrop are putting the strongest temptations in my way, and then expect that I shall calmly turn my dazzled eyes inwards upon the unfurnished, empty spaces of my own mind." "You seemed to care almost too little for elegance of attire, I thought." "What the eyes do not see the heart never longs for. But glossy velvets, shimmering silks, with colors perfected from the tints of the rainbow; laces that are a marvel of fineness and beauty; and gems that might dazzle older heads than mine, thrown recklessly in my way, could any young creature fond of pretty things turn away from them, with the indifference of a wrinkled philosopher? I should have staid at Oaklands, and saved my money for the Mill Road folk." "You must have the temptation, if you are to have the credit of overcoming it." "Is there not a wonderful petition left for us by One who knows all things? 'Lead us not into temptation.'" "I do not think this is a parallel case. God's way with His people, ever since Eve was denied the fruit in Eden, has been to prove them by temptation. His promise that there shall, with the temptation, be a way of escape, is what we need to claim." "My way of escape will be to go back to Oaklands, where an occasional tea party will be the most dangerous allurement to vanity in my way." "But you will not always remain there. Mr. Winthrop will not be so remiss in his duty as your guardian as to bury you there. Marriage, and a judicious settlement in life, are among the probabilities of your near future." My cheeks crimsoned; for marriage was one of the tabooed subjects of conversation at Madame Buhlman's. Only in the solitude of our own rooms did we dare to converse on such a topic. But no doubt we wove our romances as industriously, and dreamed our dreams of the beautiful, impossible future stretching beyond our dim horizons, as eagerly as if we had been commanded to spend a certain portion of each day in its contemplation. Mrs. Flaxman noticed my embarrassment, and, after a few moments said:--"Perhaps the fairy prince has already claimed his own." I laughed lightly, but still felt ill at ease as I said: "I have never met him, and begin to doubt if he has an existence." "He is sure to come, soon or late; probably too soon to please me. I shall miss you sadly when you go away from us." I knelt beside her chair, a lump gathering in my throat, and my slow coming tears ready to drop. "I do not know why you should miss me, but it makes me so glad to hear you say so. I have no one to really love me in the wide, wide world, that is, whose love I can claim as a right, and sometimes the thought makes me desolate."