"I'll tell you what I mean. When I was a boy we brought from Wales a little dog to which I took a great fancy, it belonged to a woman who lived on the mountains, and the dog had lived a thoroughly free life. I took it to London; we were living there at the time. The dog could only be taken for walks at stated times and its whole manner of life was changed. What do you think was the consequence? It drooped and died." "That has nothing in the world to do with the question," said Sheila crossly. "On the contrary. That girl taken out of her proper environment will suffer. She is a girl of the heather, and is not intended for your world and its ways. I consider it is cruel kindness on your part to make the experiment." "Then I won't talk to you any more," said Sheila crossly, "I hate pessimistic people. I consider it very wrong of you not to try and encourage me in this good work. You are just like Miss Gregson. She throws cold water on the whole thing. You had better go and groan over it together. You are much more suited to her company than to mine." CHAPTER X GOLDEN CHAINS MEG soon grew to like the luxury of living in a comfortable house and among people who really cared for her. At first she had felt stifled by the soft carpets, rich curtains, and closed doors; and there were times when she had had to run out into the garden and breathe the pure air of heaven to satisfy the cravings of her nature. Sheila began to understand these sudden movements on the part of her protégé. As the Autumn drew to a close and winter set in, bringing with it warm fires and closed windows and doors, she noticed that the girl grew restless, and often when in the act of reading to her, Meg would spring up, catching her breath. "I must have air," she would say, and before there was time to answer she would have left the room and escaped into the garden. Then Sheila who had forgotten the necessity of air for her protégé would fling open all the windows in the hope of tempting her back again. But those sudden movements on the part of Meg became less frequent, and the girl gradually got reconciled to all the comforts of the house, and to really like its luxuries. Her past life began to seem a long way off, and as every day she grew to love Sheila more, even the thought of Jem was thrown into the background, and she strove as hard as she could to do Sheila credit, and to drop all that was out of place in the behaviour and conversation of a gentlewoman. Sheila had been right in assuring Peter that the girl was extraordinarily quick to adapt herself to her environment. Miss Gregson was touched again and again to see how Meg studied her friend's behaviour and attitudes, and copied them. She was her ideal in everything.