And it was very pleasant, as I have said, so long as I confined my attention to Bath, the stone-built town of old memories and associations--so long as I was satisfied to loiter in the streets and wide green places and in the Pump Room and the abbey.

The bitter came in only when, going from places to faces, I began to seek out the friends and acquaintances of former days.

The familiar faces seemed not wholly familiar now.

A change had been wrought; in some cases a great change, as in that of some weedy girl who had blossomed into fair womanhood.

One could not grieve at that; but in the middle-aged and those who were verging on or past that period, it was impossible not to feel saddened at the difference.