any
intellectual pursuits of mine. No. Fatima in the harem, or Nourmahal
thrumming her lute under a palm-tree, is his _belle-ideale_; failing
that, a housekeeper and drudge."

I cannot describe the scorn with which she said this. She changed the
subject, however, at once, instead of pursuing it as she would formerly
have done, and soon after left me for a drive over Milton Hills with
George, with a hammer and sketch-book in the chaise.

Mr. Lewis's business in Cuba was prolonged into May. He had estates
there, and desired to dispose of them, Lulu said, so that they might for
the future live entirely at the North, which they both liked better.

I could not help seeing that her affections drifted farther and farther
every week from their lawful haven, and I wished Mr. Lewis safe back
again and overlooking his Northern estates. I guessed how, through her
pride of awakened intellect, Lulu's gratitude had wrought a deep
interest in her cousin. He had rescued her from the idleness and inanity
of her daily life, pointed out to her the broad fields of literary
enjoyment and excellence, and inevitably associated his own image with
all the new and varied occupations with which her now busy days were
filled. The poetry she read he brought to her; the songs she sang were
of his selection. His mind and taste, his observations and reflections,
were all written over every page she read, over every hour of her life.
She had been on a desert island in her intellectual loneliness. She
could hardly help loving the hand that had guided her to the palm-tree
and the fountain, especially when she glanced back at the long sandy
reach of her life.

Naturally enough, I watched and distrusted Mr. Remington, who was a man
of the world, and knew very well what he was about. Of all things, he
dearly loved to be excited, occupied, and amused. Of course, I was not
disturbed about his heart, nor seriously supposed he would get into any
entanglement of the affections and the duties of life, but I thought he
might do a great deal of harm for all that.

At last, in the middle of May, Mr. Lewis returned, having failed in his
desired arrangement for a permanent residence in New England. The first
evening I saw them together without company, I perceived that he was
struck with the new life in Lulu's manner and conversation. He watched
and listened to her with an astonishment which he could not conceal.

I never saw anything like jealousy in Mr. Lewis's