"Thank you," and the shadow passed away, as any trifling pleasure always
had power to make it pass. Sometimes Helen speculated vaguely on what a
grand sort of man the earl would have been had he been like other people
--how cheerful, how active, how energetic and wise. But then one
never knows how far circumstances create and unfold character. We often
learn as much by what is withheld as by what is enjoyed.

"Helen," he said, moving his chair a little nearer her--he had
brought one good thing from London, a self-acting chair, in which he
could wheel himself about easily, and liked doing it--"I wonder
whether your father would have taken as much pleasure in his books
thirty years ago. Do you think one could fill up one's whole life with
reading and study?"

"I can not say; I'm not clever myself, you know."

"Oh, but you are--with a sort of practical cleverness. And so is
Alick, in his own way. How happy Alick must be, going out into the
world, with plenty to do all day long! How bright he looked this
morning!"

"He sees only the sunny side of things, he is still no more than a boy."

"Not exactly; he is a year older than I am."

Helen hardly knew what to reply. She guessed so well the current of the
earl's thoughts, which were often her own too, as she watched his absent
or weary looks, though he tried hard to keep his attention to what Mr.
Cardross was reading or discussing. But the distance between twenty and