Their present abode was, as she often said to herself, not the one best
calculated for the holiday sports of a boy of sixteen, yet Frederick,
having been used to nothing else, was very happy, and had tastes formed
on their way of life. The twins, as little children, had always had
the same occupations, Henrietta learning Latin, marbles, and trap-ball,
and Frederick playing with dolls and working cross-stitch; and even now
the custom was so far continued, that he gave lessons in Homer and
Euclid for those which he received in Italian and music. For present
amusement there was no reason to complain; the neighbourhood supplied
many beautiful walks, while longer expeditions were made with Mrs.
Langford in the pony carriage, and sketching, botanizing, and
scrambling, were the order of the day. Boating too was a great
delight, and had it not been for an occasional fretting recollection
that he could not go out sailing without his mamma, and that most of
his school fellows were spending their holidays in a very different
manner, he would have been perfectly happy. Fortunately he had not
sufficient acquaintance with the boys in the neighbourhood for the
contrast to be often brought before him.

Henrietta did not do much to reconcile him to the anxious care with
which he was guarded. She was proud of his talents, of his
accomplishments, of his handsome features, and she would willingly have
been proud of his excellence in manly sports, but in lieu of this she
was proud of the spirit which made him long for them, and encouraged it
by her full and entire sympathy. The belief that the present
restraints must be diminished at Knight Sutton, was a moving spring
with her, as much as her own wish for the scenes round which
imagination had thrown such a brilliant halo. Of society they had
hitherto seen little or nothing; Mrs. Langford's health and spirits had