gorous
requirements), Mr. X. was immediately thrust beyond the pale, there was
no good in him; in the way of odious traits there was nothing which she
did not attribute to him at one time or another, she could even hint at
darker guilt. She wondered that people should continue to receive him,
and to her dying day she never forgot to give, upon opportunity, her
well-aimed thrust--a thrust all the more effective because masked by her
reputation for amiability and frank, liberal qualities.

As, however, people generally were sufficiently attentive, this lady's
judgments seldom reached the last-mentioned stage, a condition of things
which she herself was the first to approve, because (this was the most
curious shade of her disposition) she believed fully in her own
opinions, and would have disliked greatly to "have anything to do with
unprincipled persons." But the world at large had no suspicion of these
intricacies; to the world at large Mrs. Rutherford was a handsome,
amiable woman, who, possessing a good fortune, a good house in New York,
a good old country-place on the Sound, and much hospitality, was
considered to be above petty criticisms--criticisms which would do for
people less pleasing, less well-endowed.

But though he read his aunt's nature, Winthrop was none the less
attached to her; it might be said, perhaps, with more accuracy, that he
was fond of her. He had been a very lonely little boy, his father while
loving him deeply had been strict with him, and had permitted him few
amusements, few companions; to go, therefore, and spend a month with his
aunt Katrina, to taste her indulgent kindness and enjoy the liberty she
allowed, to have her come and kiss him good-night, and talk to him about
his beautiful mother, to have her take him up on her lap and pet him
when he was a tired-out, drooping little fellow after immense exertions
with his big cousin Lanse, to hear her stories about his uncle Evert
(after whom he had been named)--that wonderful Uncle Evert who had gone
down to Central America to see the Aztecs--these things had been deeply
delightful at the time to the child, whose nature was reserved and
concentrated. And if the details were no longer distinct, now that he
was a man, the general remembrance at least was always there, the
remembrance of happy hours and motherly caresses. He therefore welcomed
the idea of his aunt's coming to Gracias. Though what Mrs. Peter
Rutherford would be able to find in th