.

Margaret had thought that she was fully occupied in the country, with
her teaching, her reading, her literature and historical clubs, but
she had never known before what it was to be busy and not have time for
anything, always in pursuit of some new thing, and getting a fragment
here and there; life was a good deal like reading the dictionary and
remembering none of the words. And it was all so cosmopolitan and
all-embracingly sympathetic. One day it was a paper by a Servian
countess on the social life of the Servians, absorbingly interesting
both in itself and because it was a countess who read it; and this was
followed by the singing of an Icelandic tenor and a Swedish soprano, and
a recital on the violin by a slight, red-haired, middle-aged woman from
London. All the talents seem to be afloat and at the service of the
strenuous ones who are cultivating themselves.

The first function at which Margaret assisted in the long drawing-rooms
of the Arbusers was a serious one--one that combined the charm of
culture with the temptations of benevolence. The rooms were crowded
with the fashion of the town, with a sprinkling of clergymen and of thin
philanthropic gentlemen in advanced years. It was a four-o'clock, and
the assembly had the cheerfulness of a reception, only that the display
of toilets was felt to be sanctified by a purpose. The performance
opened with a tremendous prelude on the piano by Herr Bloomgarten, who
had been Liszt's favorite pupil; indeed, it was whispered that Liszt had
said that, old as he was, he never heard Bloomgarten without learning
something. There was a good deal of subdued conversation while the
pianist was in his extreme agony of execution, and a hush of extreme
admiration--it was divine, divine, ravishing--when he had finished. The
speaker was a learned female pundit from India, and her object was to
interest the women of America in the condition of their unfortunate
Hindoo sisters. It appeared that thousands and tens of thousands of them
were doomed to early and lifelong widowhood, owing to the operation
of cruel caste laws, which condemned even girls betrothed to deceased
Brahmins to perpetual celibacy. This fate could only be alleviated by
the education and elevation of women. And money was needed for schools,
especially for medical schools, which would break down the walls of
prejudice and enfranchise the sex. The appeal was so charmingly made
that every one was moved by it, especial