I own I should like her better if she were a little more pensive; a tinge of melancholy would, in her situation, be so becoming and natural. My imagination was quite disappointed when I beheld the quickness of her eyes and frequency of her smiles. Even her mode of showing affection to Leonora was not such as could please me. This is the first visit, I understand, that she has paid Leonora since her marriage: these friends have been separated for many months.--I was not present at their meeting; but I came into the room a few minutes after _Helen_‘s arrival, and I should have thought that they had seen one another but yesterday. This _dear Helen_ was quite at ease and at home in a few moments, and seemed as if she had been living with us for years. I make allowance for the ease of well-bred people. Helen has lived much in the world, and has polished manners. But the heart--the heart is superior to politeness; and even ease, in some situations, shows a want of the delicate _tact_ of sentiment. In a similar situation I should have been silent, entranced, absorbed in my sensations--overcome by them, perhaps dissolved in tears. But in Helen there appeared no symptoms of real sensibility--nothing characteristic--nothing profound--nothing concentrated: it was all superficial, and evaporated in the common way. I was provoked to see Leonora satisfied. She assures me that Helen has uncommonly strong affections, and that her character rather exceeds than is deficient in enthusiasm. Possibly; but I am certain that Helen is in no danger of becoming romantic. Far from being abstracted, I never saw any one seem more interested and eager about every present occurrence--pleased, even to childishness, with every passing trifle. I confess that she is too much of this world for me. But I will if possible suspend my judgment, and study her a few hours longer, before I give you my definitive opinion. Thursday.