love; I had imagined her incapable of real love; I thought the desire of
pleasing universally had been her ruling passion--the ruling passion that,
of a little mind and a cold heart; but I did her wrong. In another more
material point, too, I was mistaken."

Lady Davenant paused and looked earnestly at Helen, whose eyes said, "I am
glad," and yet she was not quite certain she knew to what she alluded.

"Cecilia righted herself, and won my good opinion, by the openness with
which she treated me from the very commencement of her attachment to
General Clarendon." Lady Davenant again paused to reflect, and played for
some moments with the tablets in her hand.

"Some one says that we are apt to flatter ourselves that we leave our
faults when our faults leave us, from change of situation, age, and so
forth; and perhaps it does not signify much which it is, if the faults are
fairly gone, and if there be no danger of their returning: all our former
misunderstandings arose on Cecilia's part from cowardice of character; on
mine from--no matter what--no matter which of us was most wrong."

"True, true," cried Helen eagerly; and anxious to prevent recurrence to
painful recollections, she went on to ask rapidly several questions about
Cecilia's marriage.

Lady Davenant smiled, and promised that she should have the whole history
of the marriage in true gossip detail.

"When I wrote to you, I gave you some general ideas on the subject, but
there are little things which could not well be written, even to so safe a
young friend as you are, for what is written remains, and often for those