shaking her head gravely and sadly, and becoming quite silent, when I
pressed for further explanation; so that, at last, I gave up all
attempts to arrive at an understanding of the mystery by her means. Not
the less, however, I speculated on the subject.

One thing soon became evident to me: that she was considered not merely
deficient as to the power of intellectual acquirement, but in a quite
abnormal intellectual condition. Of this, however, I could myself see no
sign. The peculiarity, almost oddity, of some of her remarks, was
evidently not only misunderstood, but, with relation to her mental
state, misinterpreted. Such remarks Lady Hilton generally answered only
by an elongation of the lips intended to represent a smile. To me, they
appeared to indicate a nature closely allied to genius, if not identical
with it-a power of regarding things from an original point of view,
which perhaps was the more unfettered in its operation from the fact
that she was incapable of looking at them in the ordinary common-place
way. It seemed to me, sometimes, as if her point of observation was
outside of the sphere within which the thing observed took place; and as
if what she said, had a relation, occasionally, to things and thoughts
and mental conditions familiar to her, but at which not even a definite
guess could be made by me. I am compelled to acknowledge, however, that
with such utterances as these mingled now and then others, silly enough
for any drawing-room young lady; which seemed again to be accepted by
the family as proofs that she was not _altogether_ out of her right
mind. She was gentle and kind to the children, as they were still
called; and they seemed reasonably fond of her.

There was something to me exceedingly touching in the solitariness of
this girl; for no one spoke to her as if she were like other people, or
as if any heartiness were possible between them. Perhaps no one could