Carrie and Anna were ever in the shade. Still her niece was too
general a favorite in the neighborhood to allow of open hostility at
home, and so the proud woman ground together her glittering
teeth--_and waited_!

Among the many who admired 'Lena, there was no one who gave her such
full and unbounded homage as did her grandmother, whose life at Maple
Grove had been one of shadow, seldom mingled with sunshine.
Gradually had she learned the estimation in which she was held by her
son's wife, and she felt how bitter it was to eat the bread of
dependence. As far as she was able, 'Lena shielded her from the
sneers of her aunt, who thinking she had done all that was required
of her when she fixed their room, would for days and even weeks
appear utterly oblivious of their presence, or frown darkly whenever
chance threw them in her way. She had raised no objection to 'Lena's
continuing a pupil of Mr. Everett, who, she hoped, would not prove
indifferent to her charms, fancying that in this way she would sooner
be rid of one whom she feared as a rival of her daughters.

But she was mistaken; for much as Malcolm Everett might admire 'Lena,
another image than hers was enshrined in his heart, and most
carefully guarded was the little golden curl, cut in seeming sport
from the head it once adorned, and, now treasured as a sacred memento
of the past. Believing that it would be so because she wished it to
be so, Mrs. Livingstone had more than once whispered to her female
friends her surmises that Malcolm Everett would marry 'Lena, and at
the time of which we are speaking, it was pretty generally understood
that a strong liking, at least, if not an engagement, existed between
them.