because her younger sister wants to study music, as
if a school-girl couldn't get all the instruction of that
kind here that is necessary. Really, I never heard
of such a thing."

To Mrs. Benson, a neighbor, she said, behind her
hand and in strict confidence: "Miss Cobden is morbidly
conscientious over trifles. A fine woman, one
of the very finest we have, but a little too strait-laced,
and, if I must say it, somewhat commonplace, especially
for a woman of her birth and education."

To herself she said: "Never while I live shall
Jane Cobden marry my John! She can never help
any man's career. She has neither the worldly
knowledge, nor the personal presence, nor the
money."

Jane gave but one answer to all inquiries--and
there were many.

"Yes, I know the move is a sudden one," she
would say, "but it is for Lucy's good, and there
is no one to go with her but me." No one saw
beneath the mask that hid her breaking heart. To
them the drawn face and the weary look in her eyes
only showed her grief at leaving home and those
who loved her: to Mrs. Cavendish it seemed part
of Jane's peculiar temperament.