What all
men should avoid is the 'shabby genteel.' No man ever gets over it. I
will save you from that. You had better be in rags."

CHAPTER XXIV

When the twins had separated, they had resolved on a system of
communication which had been, at least on the part of Myra, scrupulously
maintained. They were to interchange letters every week, and each letter
was to assume, if possible, the shape of a journal, so that when they
again met no portion of the interval should be a blank in their past
lives. There were few incidents in the existence of Myra; a book, a
walk, a visit to the rectory, were among the chief. The occupations of
their father were unchanged, and his health seemed sustained, but that
of her mother was not satisfactory. Mrs. Ferrars had never rallied since
the last discomfiture of her political hopes, and had never resumed her
previous tenour of life. She was secluded, her spirits uncertain, moods
of depression succeeded by fits of unaccountable excitement, and, on
the whole, Myra feared a general and chronic disturbance of her nervous
system. His sister prepared Endymion for encountering a great change in
their parent when he returned home. Myra, however, never expatiated on
the affairs of Hurstley. Her annals in this respect were somewhat dry.
She fulfilled her promise of recording them, but no more. Her pen was
fuller and more eloquent in her comments on the life of her brother, and
of the new characters with whom he had become acquainted. She delighted
to hear about Mr. Jawett, and especially about Mr. St. Barbe, and was
much pleased that he had been to the Derby, though she did not exactly
collect who were his companions. Did he go with that kind Mr. Trenchant?
It would seem that Endymion's account of the Rodney family had been
limited to vague though earnest acknowledgments of their great civility
and attention, which added much to the comfort of his life. Impelled
by some of these grateful though general remarks, Mrs. Ferrars, in a
paroxysm of stately gratitude, had sent a missive to Sylvia, such as
a sovereign might address to a deserving subject, at the same time
acknowledging and commending her duteous services. Such was the old
domestic superstition of the Rodneys, that, with all their worldliness,
they treasured this effusion as if it had really emanated from the
centre of power and courtly favour.

Myra, in her anticipation of speedily meeting her brother, was doomed to
disappointment. She