softened towards her, as he remembered the kind of training she
had received from her mother, who was a pure slave of fashion, and
would have deemed her daughters degraded had they possessed any
knowledge of work.

And still, when the aristocratic Howard Hastings had sued for
Ella's hand, she felt honored, notwithstanding that both his
mother and sister were known to be well skilled in everything
pertaining to what she called "drudgery." To remove his wife from
her mother's influence, and at the same time prolong her life, for
she was really very delicate, was Mr. Hasting's aim; and as he had
always fancied a home in the country, he at last purchased Rose
Hill farm in spite of Ella's tears, and the frowns of her mother,
who declared it impossible for her daughter to live without
society, and pronounced all country people "rough, ignorant and
vulgar."

All this Ella believed, and though she was far too amiable and
sweet-tempered to be really angry, she came very near _sulking_
all the way from New York to Dunwood. But when at the depot,
she met the new carriage and horses which had been purchased
expressly for herself, she was somewhat mollified and telling
her husband "he was the best man in the world," she took
the reins in her own little soft, white hands, and laughed aloud
as she saw how the spirited creatures obeyed her slightest wish.
From the parlor windows of Locust Grove, Eugenia and her sister
looked out upon the strangers, pronouncing Mr. Hastings the most
elegant-looking man they had ever seen, while his wife, the
girlish Ella, was thought far too pale to be very beautiful.