compensation for the bloom it takes away. The frank eyes had a
softer shadow in their depths, the firm lips smiled less often, but
when it came the smile was the sweeter for the gravity that went
before, and in her voice there was a new undertone of that subtle
music, called sympathy, which steals into the heart and nestles
there.

She was unconscious of this gracious change, but others saw and felt
it, and to some a face bright with health, intelligence, and modesty
was more attractive than mere beauty. Thanks to this and her quiet,
cordial manners, she found friends here and there to add charms to
that summer by the sea.

The dashing young men took no more notice of her than if she had
been a little gray peep on the sands; not so much, for they shot
peeps now and then, but a governess was not worth bringing down. The
fashionable belles and beauties were not even aware of her
existence, being too entirely absorbed in their yearly husband-hunt
to think of any one but themselves and their prey. The dowagers had
more interesting topics to discuss, and found nothing in Christie's
humble fortunes worthy of a thought, for they liked their gossip
strong and highly flavored, like their tea.

But a kind-hearted girl or two found her out, several lively old
maids, as full of the romance of the past as ancient novels, a
bashful boy, three or four invalids, and all the children, for
Christie had a motherly heart and could find charms in the plainest,
crossest baby that ever squalled.

Of her old friends she saw nothing, as her theatrical ones were off