plucked
up courage to marry in spite of the paternal prohibition, and not only
that, but to be very happy also during the short portion of life
allotted to her afterward. The young Spanish husband, with an
unaccountable indifference to the wealth for which he was supposed to
have plotted so perseveringly, was pusillanimous enough to die soon
afterward, leaving only one little pale-faced child, a puny girl, to
inherit the money. The baby Helen had never possessed the dimples and
rose tints that make the beauty of childhood; the girl Helen had not the
rounded curves and peach-like bloom that make the beauty of youth. At
seventeen she was what she was now; therefore at seventeen she was old.
At twenty-seven she was what she was then; therefore at twenty-seven she
was young.

She was tall, and extremely, marvellously slender; yet her bones were
so small that there were no angles visible in all her graceful length.
She was a long woman; her arms were long, her throat was long, her eyes
and face were long. Her form, slight enough for a spirit, was as natural
as the swaying grasses on a hill-side. She was as flexible as a ribbon.
Her beauties were a regally poised little head, a delicately cut
profile, and a remarkable length of hair; her peculiarities, the color
of this hair, the color of her skin, and the narrowness of her eyes. The
hue of her hair was called flaxen; but it was more than that--it was the
color of bleached straw. There was not a trace of gold in it, nor did it
ever shine, but hung, when unbound, a soft even mass straight down below
the knee. It was very thick, but so fine that it was manageable; it was
never rough, because there were no short locks. The complexion which
accompanied this hair was white, with an under-tint of ivory. There are
skins with under-tints of pink, of blue, and of brown; but this was
different in that it shaded off into cream, without any indication of
these hues. This soft ivory-color gave a shade of fuller richness to the
slender straw-haired woman--an effect increased by the hue of the eyes,
when visible under the long light lashes. For Helen's eyes were of a
bright dark unexpected brown. The eyes were so long and narrow, however,
that generally only a line of bright brown looked at you when you met
their gaze. Small features, narrow cheeks, delicate lips, and little
milk-white teeth, like a child's, completed this face which never had a
red tint, even the lips being but faintly co