I think the reason that her make did not show up until middle life was that she had General Grant's luck--Circumstance and Opportunity did not come her way when she was younger.

The qualities that were born in her had to wait for circumstance and opportunity--but they were there: they were there to stay, whether they ever got a chance to fructify or not.

If they had come early, they would have found her ready and competent.

And they--not she--would have determined what they would set her at and what they would make of her.

If they had elected to commission her as second-assistant cook in a bankrupt boarding-house, I know the rest of it--I know what would have happened.