y, two or three years younger than he, Asenath had
a gravity of demeanor, a calm self-possession, a deliberate balance of
mind, and a repose of the emotional nature, which he had never before
observed, except in much older women. She had had, as he could well
imagine, no romping girlhood, no season of careless, light-hearted
dalliance with opening life, no violent alternation even of the usual
griefs and joys of youth. The social calm in which she had expanded had
developed her nature as gently and securely as a sea-flower is unfolded
below the reach of tides and storms.

She would have been very much surprised if any one had called her
handsome: yet her face had a mild, unobtrusive beauty which seemed
to grow and deepen from day to day. Of a longer oval than the Greek
standard, it was yet as harmonious in outline; the nose was fine and
straight, the dark-blue eyes steady and untroubled, and the lips calmly,
but not too firmly closed. Her brown hair, parted over a high white
forehead, was smoothly laid across the temples, drawn behind the ears,
and twisted into a simple knot. The white cape and sun-bonnet gave her
face a nun-like character, which set her apart, in the thoughts of "the
world's people" whom she met, as one sanctified for some holy work. She
might have gone around the world, repelling every rude word, every bold
glance, by the protecting atmosphere of purity and truth which inclosed
her.

The days went by, each bringing some new blossom to adorn and illustrate
the joint studies of the young man and maiden. For Richard Hilton
had soon mastered the elements of botany, as taught by Priscilla
Wakefield,--the only source of Asenath's knowledge,--and entered,
with her, upon the text-book of Gray, a copy of which he procured from
Philadelphia. Yet, though he had overtaken her in his knowledge of the
technicalities of the science, her practical acquaintance with plants
and their habits left her still his superior. Day by day, exploring the
meadows, the woods, and the clearings, he brought home his discoveries
to enjoy her aid in classifying and assigning them to their true places.
Asenath had generally an hour or two of leisure from domestic duties
in the afternoons, or after the early supper of summer was over; and
sometimes, on "Seventh-days," she would be his guide to some locality
where the rarer plants were known to exist. The parents saw this
community of interest and exploration without a thought of misgiv