'May I ask, was it a man or a woman?'
'Neither; it was a young girl.'
'It is easy to be happy at that age.'
'Not for her. She had been very unhappy.'
'And got over it?'
'Yes; but not by virtue of her youth or childishness, as you suppose. She was one of those natures that are born with a great capacity for suffering, and she had begun to find it out early; and it was from the depths of unhappiness that she came out into clear and peaceful sunshine; with nothing to help her either in her external surroundings.'
'Couldn't you follow her steps and attain her experience?' asked Miss
Frere mockingly.
Pitt rose up from the mat where he had been lying, laughed, and shook himself.
'As you will not go to drive,' he said, 'I believe I will go alone.'
But he went on horseback, and rode hard.