My father and mother had been to me a memory and a hope; now they were a memory only.

After my first grief and sense of desolation had passed, I went on with the routine of my days much as before.

I did not miss my father and mother every hour as though I had lived under their roof and been familiar with their faces and caresses.

But the bright expectation of my youth was extinguished, and I suffered secretly a great yearning for the love which I had now no right to claim from anyone.

The time was fast approaching when I must take my school-books down from Miss Sweetmans' shelves, pack up my trunks, and go forth among strangers.