Since bringing it home she had studied assiduously (though never if Bertram was near), keeping it well-hidden, when not in use, in a remote corner of her desk.
There was a good deal in the book that Billy did not like, and there were some statements that worried her; but yet there was much that she tried earnestly to follow.

She was still striving to be the oak, and she was still eagerly endeavoring to brush up against those necessary outside interests.

She was so thankful, in this connection, for Alice Greggory, and for Arkwright and Hugh Calderwell.

It was such a help that she had them! They were not only very pleasant and entertaining outside interests, but one or another of them was almost always conveniently within reach.
Then, too, it pleased her to think that she was furthering the pretty love story between Alice and Mr.Arkwright.And she _was_ furthering it.
She was sure of that.

Already she could see how dependent the man was on Alice, how he looked to her for approbation, and appealed to her on all occasions, exactly as if there was not a move that he wanted to make without her presence near him.