quite a beautiful chivalrous friendship between the brother and
sister, he delighting in her gentleness, and she in his high daring
spirit. Edward and Winifred are scarcely companions to her yet, so
that she is forced to turn to us and be one of the elders.'

'You think Horace is happy at Sandleford,' said Anne; 'I should hope
he would be; Rupert always looks back to his days there with a great
deal of pleasure.'

'I hope Horace's teeth will not meet with the same disaster as
Rupert's,' said Elizabeth, 'he has not quite so much beauty to spare;
but he really is a very fine looking boy, and just the bold merry
fellow to get on well at school, so that he is quite happy now that
he has recovered the leaving home. But I am afraid my classical lore
will die of his departure, for my newly acquired knowledge of Virgil
and the Greek declensions will not be of use to Edward these three
years. He is only just conquering "Lapis, lapidis."'

'But you can go on with Latin and Greek, alone, as you did with
German, cannot you?' said Anne.

'I do sometimes construe a little Virgil,' said Elizabeth; 'but
Horace is his natural contemporary, and he is not happy without him.
Besides, when I have nothing to oblige me to learn regularly, I do
not know when to do it, so Dido has been waiting an unconscionable
time upon her funeral pile; for who could think of Jupiter and Venus
in the midst of all our preparations for the Consecration?'

'I am glad Helen came home in time for it,' said Anne.