lfred and Dicksie waited till Beth
appeared, and often waited in vain, for Beth could not always get out.
Her mother told Lady Benyon that Beth was tiresome rather than naughty
in those days. She seemed to have no idea of time. She would stay out
so late that her mother became quite fidgety about her, not knowing
what had become of her; and when Beth came in at last in a casual way,
beaming blandly at every one, it was certainly provoking. Beth thought
her mother unreasonable to object to her late rambles. She was not
giving her any trouble; and she could not understand why her mother
was not content to let her be happy in her own way.

Beth's lessons became more perfunctory than ever that summer. Mrs.
Caldwell salved her own conscience on the subject by arguing that it
is not wise to teach a girl too much when she is growing so fast, and
Lady Benyon agreed. Lady Benyon had no patience with people who
over-educate girls--with boys it was different; but let a girl grow up
strong and healthy, and get her married as soon as possible, was what
she advised. Had any one asked what was to become of a girl brought up
for that purpose solely, if no one were found to marry her, Lady
Benyon would have disposed of the question with a shrug of the
shoulders. She laid down the principle, and if it did not act,
somebody must be to blame. The principle itself was good, she was sure
of that. So Beth was kept without intellectual discipline to curb her
senses at this critical period, and the consequence was that her
energy took the form of sensuous rather than intellectual pursuits.
Her time was devoted not to practising, but to playing; to poetry, and
to dreamy musings. She wove words to music at the piano by the hour
together, lolled about in languorous attitudes, was more painfully
concerned than ever about her personal adornment, delighted in scents
and in luxurious imaginings, and altogether fed her feelings to such
excess, that if her moral nature were not actually weakened, it was
certainly endangered.

Fortunately she had an admirable companion in Alfred. The boy is not
naturally like a beast, unable to restrain his passions, a bit more
than the girl. To men as to women the power to control themselves
comes of the determination. There are cases of natural depravity, of
course, but they are not peculiar to either sex; and as the girl may
inherit the father's vices, so may the boy have his mother to thank
for his virtues. Depravi