y into the other room and sat down at the
corner of that fire, where the partition wall screened her from view.
For she wanted to let her head drop on her knees and be still; and a
few tears that she could not help came hot to her eyes. She had worked
so hard to get everything in nice order for her father; she had so
hoped to see him pleased and contented; and now he was so illogically
discontented! Truly he could tell her nothing she did not already know
about the disadvantages of their new position; and they all rushed upon
Esther's mind at this minute with renewed force. The pleasant country
and the shining river were gone; she would no longer see the lights on
the Jersey shore when she got up in the morning; the air would not come
sweet and fresh to her windows; there would be no singing of birds or
fragrance of flowers around her, even in summer; she would have only
the streets and the street cries and noises, and dust, and unsweet
breath. The house would do inside; but outside, what a change! And
though Esther was not very old in the world, nor very worldly-wise for
her years, she knew--if not as well as her father, yet she knew--that
in Major Street she was pretty nearly cut off from all social
intercourse with her kind. Her school experience and observation had
taught her so much. She knew that her occupation as a teacher in a
school was enough of itself to put her out of the way of invitations,
and that an abode in Major Street pretty well finished the matter.
Esther had not been a favourite among her school companions in the best
of times; she was of too uncommon a beauty, perhaps; perhaps she was
too different from them in other respects. Pleasant as she always was,
she was nevertheless separate from her fellows by a great separation of
nature; and that is a thing not only felt on both sides, but never
forgiven by the inferiors. Miss Gainsborough, daughter of a rich and
influential retired officer, would, however, have been sought eagerly
and welcomed universally; Miss Gainsborough, the school teacher,
daughter of an unknown somebody who lived in Major Street, was another
matter; hardly a desirable acquaintance. For what should she be desired?

Esther had not been without a certain dim perception of all this; and
it came to her with special disagreeableness just then, when every
thought came that could make her dissatisfied with herself and with her
lot. Why had her father ever come away from England, where fr