later at
his office. Lillie would go with him on Tuesday evening, after the
readings were over; and then it was understood that all parties were
to devote themselves to making the evening pass agreeable to her.
She was to be put forward, kept in the foreground, and every thing
arranged to make her appear the queen of the _fete_. They had
tableaux, where Rose made Lillie into marvellous pictures, which all
admired and praised. They had little dances, which Lillie thought
rather stupid and humdrum, because they were not _en grande toilette_;
yet Lillie always made a great merit of putting up with her life
at Springdale. A pleasant English writer has a lively paper on the
advantages of being a "cantankerous fool," in which he goes to show
that men or women of inferior moral parts, little self-control, and
great selfishness, often acquire an absolute dominion over the circle
in which they move, merely by the exercise of these traits. Every one
being anxious to please and pacify them, and keep the peace with them,
there is a constant succession of anxious compliances and compromises
going on around them; by all of which they are benefited in getting
their own will and way.

The one person who will not give up, and cannot be expected to be
considerate or accommodating, comes at last to rule the whole circle.
He is counted on like the fixed facts of nature; everybody else must
turn out for him. So Lillie reigned in Springdale. In every little
social gathering where she appeared, the one uneasy question was,
would she have a good time, and anxious provision made to that
end. Lillie had declared that reading aloud was a bore, which was
definitive against reading-parties. She liked to play and sing; so
that was always a part of the programme. Lillie sang well, but needed
a great deal of urging. Her throat was apt to be sore; and she took
pains to say that the harsh winter weather in Springdale was ruining
her voice. A good part of an evening was often spent in supplications
before she could be induced to make the endeavor.

Lillie had taken up the whim of being jealous of Rose. Jealousy is
said to be a sign of love. We hold another theory, and consider it
more properly a sign of selfishness. Look at noble-hearted, unselfish
women, and ask if they are easily made jealous. Look, again, at a
woman who in her whole life shows no disposition to deny herself for
her husband, or to enter into his tastes and views and feelings: are
no