Miss Vanstone had already reached the first maturity of womanhood; she had completed her six-and-twentieth year.

Inheriting the dark majestic character of her mother's beauty, she had yet hardly inherited all its charms.

Though the shape of her face was the same, the features were scarcely so delicate, their proportion was scarcely so true.

She was not so tall.

She had the dark-brown eyes of her mother--full and soft, with the steady luster in them which Mrs.Vanstone's eyes had lost--and yet there was less interest, less refinement and depth of feeling in her expression: it was gentle and feminine, but clouded by a certain quiet reserve, from which her mother's face was free.