Even her walk was not like that of most women; she moved along
with a slow, deliberate stride which was at times almost spectral,
and reminded one of the resistless, onward march of the fates.
Aunt Jane was serious-minded and progressive, and, worst of all,
she was conscientious. However great a blessing a conscience must
be considered, there are some consciences that make their owners
extremely unpleasant. Whenever Aunt Jane was particularly trying,
her friends brought forward the singular excuse: "Jane is
_so_ conscientious; she means to do just right." And she
certainly did. So far as she could distinguish its direction, Aunt
Jane trod the path of duty, but she trod it as a martyr, not like
one who finds it a pleasant, sunshiny road, with bright,
interesting spots scattered all along its way. She had advanced
ideas about women and pronounced theories as to the rearing of
children; she was a member of countless clubs, and served on all
the committees to talk about reform; she visited the jail
periodically, and marched through the wards of the hospital with a
stony air of sympathy highly gratifying to the inmates, who tried
to be polite to her because of her relationship to the doctor,
whom they all adored. The demands of her public duties left Miss
Roberts little time for home life; but in the few rare intervals,
she sewed for her sister, refusing the more attractive work, and
devoting herself to sheets, pillow-cases, and kitchen towels, in
the penitential, self-sacrificing way which is so trying to the
person receiving the favor. She appeared to regard these labors as
an offset to the frank criticisms of her sister's housekeeping,
which she never hesitated to make when the opportunity offered.
Aunt Jane had come to live with her sister soon after Mrs. Adams
was married; and the doctor's happy, even temper enabled him to
make the best of the situation, though he had at once given Miss