Things went on in this way with me till a new girl, called Lily Greenwood, came to our school. Lily was not either as clever or as pretty as I was; but there was a charm about her which I had not—the charm of a sweet, sympathetic nature, which the high, pure atmosphere of a Christian home had developed early into blossoms of rare beauty. In a month everyone in the school loved Lily. Even the girls with the prickliest tempers, who were always saying “won’t” and “shan’t,” said “will” and “shall” to Lily; and the girls with the dullest brains, who could never be either pulled or driven through the German declensions, brightened up at her magic spells, and grew quite starlike in their gleams and twinkles of intelligence; and the greedy girls got to share their most cherished dainties with her, because she set them such an example of entire, smiling, gracious unselfishness; and the very cat, who used to spit and grumble if but the skirts of our dresses touched her, came to sit on Lily’s knee, and rejoiced in being stroked by her hand. Among the rest, I fell gradually under the witchery practised by Lily. She seemed to know by instinct that love was what I wanted, and she came and wove a web of sunbeams around me, till at length I was caught in it. I began to open my heart to her, and to let her come in, as I had never done to anyone before; and I began, too, to feel real warm affection for her. Still, I did not let Lily’s influence work upon me for good as much as it ought to have done; my pride forbade it, and I continued in most things my old wilful self. Some few months before my story begins it had been discovered by the doctors that my chest was delicate, and that it would be beneficial for my health to spend the winter in a warmer climate. My guardian, who was always very eager to atone for his want of affection for me by most scrupulous care for my temporal well-being, at once decided that I should go to the South of France in November, and remain there till April, and came to my schoolmistress to arrange with her as to how the plan could be carried out. It was settled that Miss Dolly, the younger of our schoolmistress’s sisters, who kept the school jointly with her, should occupy, with me, a villa near Cannes, and that I should have one companion of my own age to keep me from being dull. Great was my joy when I heard that this companion was to be Lily. She was not very strong, and her father, who had lately lost his wife (on which account Lily had been sent to school), thought it a good opportunity of getting needful change for her without having to go with her himself, and leave his business as a merchant for a while.