She said it was mimicking a sacred thing.' 'Oh! but, I say, how awfully funny, Helen.

You must own that it's funny.' 'Funny, but sweet, too.' 'She is a sweet creature, of course, one can see that; and her moral approvals and disapprovals are firmly fixed, however funny; one likes that in her.

I'll try to be good, if Frances will let me.

She looked quite pretty this evening, Miss Jakes; only she dresses too stiffly.
What's the matter?
Couldn't you give her a hint?
She is like a satin-box, and a woman ought to be like a flower; ought to look as if they'd bend if a breeze went over them.

Now you can't imagine Miss Jakes bending; she'd have to stoop.' Helen, in the darkness, smiled half bitterly, half affectionately.
Gerald's nonsense always pleased her, even when she was most exasperated with him.