Page:The Clergyman's Wife.djvu/164

 crown of age' should be deemed more beautiful than 'the golden circlet of youth.' True, Vanity cries out against gray hair, but that is simply because she is ignorant. Nature (from whom art learnt all her beautifying secrets) sent the snowy frame to soften faces which have been despoiled of their fresh coloring, and to render their losses less apparent. We have heard Landor's groan over 'growing old,' but if I mistake not, there is a more consolatory voice breathing from some healthier pages at hand."

She approached a small hanging library, filled with choice volumes, her favorite text books, selected Hillard's "Italy," and, after a rapid turning over of leaves, redolent with the fragrant memories of that "land of the sun," read aloud "growing old seems to depend much upon the temperament, and somewhat upon the will. With an active mind and warm heart all that is dark and unlovely in age may be kept off very long, if not to the end."

"To the end—ay—to the end—so shall it be!" responded Millicent, replacing the volume, while an expression of serene satisfaction played over her fine features, a look which strongly contrasted with the troubled shadow that obscured their beauty when that wail of Landor's set her musing.