CHAPTER XX.
THE WEDDING-DRESS.
For all her troubles, however, Mary had her pleasures, even in the shop.

It was a delight to receive the friendly greetings of such as had known and honored her father.

She had the pleasure, as real as it was simple, of pure service, reaping the fruit of the earth in the joy of the work that was given her to do; there is no true work that does not carry its reward though there are few that do not drop it and lose it.
She gathered also the pleasure of seeing and talking with people whose manners and speech were of finer grain and tone than those about her.
When Hesper Mortimer entered the shop, she brought with her delight; her carriage was like the gait of an ode; her motions were rhythm; and her speech was music.

Her smile was light, and her whole presence an enchantment to Mary.

The reading aloud which Wardour had led her to practice had taught her much, not only in respect of the delicacies of speech and utterance, but in the deeper matters of motion, relation, and harmony.