in
their brief excursions. He spoke, too, the dialect of the country; and
they paid, under his auspices, a visit to a Tuscan farmer. All this was
agreeable; even Henrietta was persuaded that it was better than staying
at home. The variety of pleasing objects diverted her mind in spite of
herself. She had some duties to perform in this world yet remaining.
There was her father: her father who had been so devoted to her, who had
never uttered a single reproach to her for all her faults and follies,
and who, in her hour of tribulation, had clung to her with such
fidelity. Was it not some source of satisfaction to see him again
comparatively happy? How selfish for her to mar this graceful and
innocent enjoyment! She exerted herself to contribute to the amusement
of her father and his kind friend, as well as to share it. The colour
returned a little to her cheek; sometimes she burst for a moment into
something like her old gaiety; and though these ebullitions were often
followed by a gloom and moodiness, against which she found it in vain to
contend, still, on the whole, the change for the better was decided, and
Mr. Temple yet hoped that in time his sight might again be blessed and
his life illustrated by his own brilliant Henrietta.

CHAPTER III.

_In Which Mr. Temple and His Daughter, with Their New
Friend, Make an Unexpected Excursion_.

ONE delicious morning, remarkable even in the south, Lord Montfort
called upon them in his carriage, and proposed a little excursion. Mr.
Temple looked at his daughter, and was charmed that Henrietta consented.
She rose from her seat, indeed, with unwonted animation, and the three
friends had soon quitted the city and entered its agreeable environs.

'It was wise to pass the winter in Italy,' said Lord Montfort, 'but to
see Tuscany in perfection I should choose the autumn. I know nothing
more picturesque than the carts laden with grapes, and drawn by
milk-white steers.'

They drove gaily along at the foot of green hills, crowned ever and
anon by a convent or a beautiful stone-pine. The landscape attracted the
admiration of Miss Temple. A palladian villa rose from the bosom of a
gentle elevation, crowned with these picturesque trees. A broad terrace
of marble extended in front of the villa, on which were ranged orange
trees. On either side spread an olive-grove. The sky was without
a cloud, and deeply blue; bright beams of the sun illuminated the
building. The road