Finally, she rose inertly to her feet, attempting to
moisten her dry lips, walked once or twice aimlessly to and fro across
the room, and ended by sitting down again upon her stool, and taking up
her sewing.
"Are you all well again, dear?" asked Sophie, timidly.
"Better than ever," replied Cornelia, with a short laugh, which had no
trace of hysteria about it.
There was, however, a slight but decided change in her manner, which did
not pass away: a sort of hardness and impenetrability: and so
incorporated into her nature did these traits seem, that one would have
supposed they had always been there. Some unpleasant visitors take a
surprisingly short time to make themselves at home.
But Sophie, seeing that her sister soon recovered her usual appearance,
did not allow herself to be disturbed by any uncalled-for anxieties.
Love, at its best, has a tendency to absorb and preoccupy those whom it
inspires: if not selfish, it is of necessity self-sufficient and
exclusive. Sophie was too completely permeated with her happiness, to
admit of being long overshadowed by the ills of those less blessed than
herself. Not that she had lost the power to sympathize with misfortune,
but the sympathy was apt to be smiling rather than tearful.
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