makes some figure in the world of ease. Little wrinkles at the outer
corners of her eyes assisted her look of placid thought fulness;
when she spoke, these were wont to disappear, and the expression of
her face became an animated intelligence, an eager curiosity, or a
vivacious good-humour, Her lips gave a hint of sarcasm, but this was
reserved for special occasions; as a rule her habit of speech was
suave, much observant of amenities. One might have imagined that she
had enjoyed a calm life, but this was far from being the case. The
daughter of a country solicitor, she married early--for love, and
the issue was disastrous. Above her right temple, just at the roots
of the hair, a scar was discoverable; it was the memento of an
occasion on which her husband aimed a blow at her with a mantelpiece
ornament, and came within an ace of murder. Intimates of the
household said that the provocation was great--that Mrs.
Lessingham's gift of sarcasm had that morning displayed itself much
too brilliantly. Still, the missile was an extreme retort, and on
the whole it could not be wondered at that husband and wife resolved
to live apart in future. Mr. Lessingham was, in fact, an
aristocratic boor, and his wife never puzzled so much over any
intellectual difficulty as she did over the question how, as a girl,
she came to imagine herself enamoured of him. She was not, perhaps,
singular in her concernment with such a personal problem.

"It is six years since I was in Italy," she said, when greetings
were over, and she had seated herself. "Don't you envy me my
companion, Mrs. Spence? If anything could revive one's first
enjoyment, it would be the sight of Cecily's."

Cecily was sitting by Miriam, whose hand she had only just
relinquished. Her anxious and affectionate inquiries moved Miriam to