Page:Blanchard on L. E. L.pdf/66

66, as it is the affectionate pride of his (he wishes this to be said), to remember and acknowledge it.

a letter, which it will be necessary to introduce presently, L. E. L. remarks—"I have lived all my life since childhood with the same people. The Misses Lance were strict, scrupulous, and particular; moreover, from having kept a school so long, with habits of minute observation. The affection they feel for me can hardly be undeserved. I would desire nothing more than to refer to their opinion." Under the roof of these respectable ladies she had been long residing. In her conduct and manners there had never been the slightest change. She pursued her literary tasks with unabated spirit; and though precluded, by her unprotected position, from going into society to the extent of the facilities created for her, she was yet enabled so far to extend the circle of her friends as to secure, by a short visit here and there, and by literary acquaintanceship, a fair share of relief from the monotony of her pursuits.

Nobody who might happen to see her for the first time about this period, enjoying the little quiet dance (of which she was fond), or the snug corner of the room where the little lively discussion (which she liked still better) was going on, could possibly have traced in her one feature of the Sentimentalist which popular error reputed her to be. The listener might only hear her running on from subject to