An aunt in his close neighbourhood was so great a comfort to him,--so ready and so natural an assistance to him in his difficulties! But Emily Wharton was not in the least like her aunt, nor had Mrs.Wharton been at all like Mrs.Roby.No doubt the contact was dangerous.

Injury had perhaps already been done.

It may be that some slightest soil had already marred the pure white of the girl's natural character.

But if so, the stain was as yet too impalpable to be visible to ordinary eyes.
Emily Wharton was a tall, fair girl, with grey eyes, rather exceeding the average proportions as well as height of women.

Her features were regular and handsome, and her form was perfect; but it was by her manner and her voice that she conquered, rather than by her beauty,--by those gifts and by a clearness of intellect joined with that feminine sweetness which has its most frequent foundation in self-denial.