one who has enjoyed them would
say with me, that no words could be found to express their wonderful
charm.

"A rather dull, silent drive, though Lucy Eaton talked a great deal; and
James, who was sitting beside her, of course, made an effort to talk and
to appear interested. But it was evident that it was an effort--so
evident that I wondered how she could help seeing it.

"Mrs. Harrington was in one of her most quiet moods, and as for me, I
leaned back in the carriage and kept my mouth resolutely shut. I am sure
I must have looked both obstinate and disagreeable, but I could not help
it--in fact, I am afraid that I did not much care.

"I was mortally tired; I could not tell why. Certainly a few hours of
reading aloud could not have reduced me to a state of such extreme
weariness, and I had made no other exertion; but body and mind I felt
utterly prostrated, as if I should never be rested or strong again.

"I was glad enough when the drive was over. I must have shown in my face
something of the lassitude, for even Lucy, who was the most thoughtless
and unobservant of human beings said, as we got out of the carriage--

"'You look so pale, Miss Crawford; I am sure you cannot be well.'

"'Only dreadfully tired,' I said; 'I shall have a cup of tea and go
straight to my room.'

"Mrs. Harrington was inclined to be anxious about me, but I succeeded in
convincing her that there was no occasion.

"'I only want a long sleep; I was wakened very early this morning, and
there is so much of the dormouse about me, that if I am cheated out of a
single half hour of my usual allowance, I am fit for nothing all day.'

"I knew James was to stay with his mother; and as Lucy Eaton seemed
inclined to spend the evening too, I drank a cup of tea and went away to
my room.

"I undressed myself and lay down on my bed, too thoroughly worn out to
sit up longer, but I could not sleep. I felt as if I would give the
world to have fallen into a slumber so heavy that it could not have been
disturbed even by a dream, till the new day came in.

"But not even a sensation of drowsiness would come. There I lay and
watched the full moon soaring up the purple heavens--thinking--thinking,
and yet so longing to be free from thought--and oh, so tired, so tired.

"Many a time I have passed a week that did not seem so long as that
night! I had a horrible feeling that it would never come to an end. I
felt as if time had ceased suddenly, and I had been f