horse for her to ride, he, as the Dean of
Brotherton, did not wish her to be seen in the hunting field. In her
dress, her ornaments, her books, her parties, there had been always
something to mark slightly her clerical belongings. She had never
chafed against this because she loved her father and was naturally
obedient; but she had felt something perhaps of a soft regret. Now her
father, whom she saw very frequently, never spoke to her of any duties.
How should her house be furnished? In what way would she lay herself
out for London society? What enjoyments of life could she best secure?
These seemed to be the matters on which he was most intent. It occurred
to her that when speaking to her of the house in London he never once
asked her what church she would attend; and that when she spoke with
pleasure of being so near the Abbey, he paid little or no attention to
her remark. And then, too, she felt, rather than perceived, that in his
counsels to her he almost intimated that she must have a plan of life
different from her husband's. There were no such instructions given,
but it almost seemed as though this were implied. He took it for
granted that her life was to be gay and bright, though he seemed to
take it also for granted that Lord George did not wish to be gay and
bright.

All this surprised her. But it did not perhaps surprise her so much as
the serious view of life which her husband from day to day impressed
upon her. That hero of her early dreams, that man with the light hair
and the dimpled chin, whom she had not as yet quite forgotten, had
never scolded her, had never spoken a serious word to her, and had
always been ready to provide her with amusements that never palled. But
Lord George made out a course of reading for her,--so much for the two
hours after breakfast, so much for the hour before dressing,--so much
for the evening; and also a table of results to be acquired in three
months,--in six months,--and so much by the close of the first year;
and even laid down the sum total of achievements to be produced by a
dozen years of such work! Of course she determined to do as he would
have her do. The great object of her life was to love him; and, of
course, if she really loved him, she would comply with his wishes. She
began her daily hour of Gibbon after breakfast with great zeal. But
there was present to her an idea that if the Gibbon had come from her
father, and the instigations to amuse herself from her