Before night Alice and her sister were installed in a comfortably-furnished room, with a nurse in attendance, who was directed to do whatever was needful for the comfort and relief of her patients.
CHAPTER XLV.
TO CONCLUDE.
Four years slipped by.
Let us note, briefly, the changes which they brought, and then farewell!
To Helen they were years of quiet happiness, of steady improvement. There were many deficiencies in her education to be made up. With the aid of private instructors, the best of their kind, she strove earnestly to acquire the knowledge for which she had long thirsted. Her father was unwilling to send her away to school, since this must deprive him of her society, on which he had learned to depend. Nor was Helen less unwilling to leave the father who had called forth from her so rare and beautiful a devotion. Year by year her mind has expanded, while her rare loveliness has, if possible, been enhanced. Helen, at nineteen, is even more charming than at fifteen.
There are some who have found this out, and Helen has had repeated offers of marriage. All these she has gently but firmly refused. Not one has succeeded in touching her heart.
Among her suitors was one whom she treated with less ceremony. A young man, who had nearly run through a large fortune, paid assiduous court to Helen, whom he had met in society, and in spite of her coldness made a declaration of love.
Helen looked up from the carpet on which her eyes had been fixed, and said, quietly, “Do you remember, Mr. Grover, where we first met?”
“At Mrs. Grosvenor’s party,” answered the young man, somewhat surprised.
“You are mistaken. That was only three months since. Our first meeting dates back four years.”