Her brother Henry was the only person who knew what she had done, and
he alone perceived something of tremulousness about her in the midst
of the even cheerfulness with which she had from the first supported
her father's spirits. Mr. Mohun, however, did not long remain in
ignorance, for Frank Hawkesworth himself arrived at Beechcroft to
plead his cause with Eleanor. He knew her value too well to give her
up, and Mr. Mohun would not hear of her making such a sacrifice for
his sake. But Eleanor was also firm, and after weeks of unhappiness
and uncertainty, it was at length arranged that she should remain at
home till Emily was old enough to take her place, and that Frank
should then return from India and claim his bride.
Well did she discharge the duties which she had undertaken; she kept
her father's mind at ease, followed out his views, managed the boys
with discretion and gentleness, and made her sisters well-informed
and accomplished girls; but, for want of fully understanding the
characters of her two next sisters, Emily and Lilias, she made some
mistakes with regard to them. The clouds of sorrow, to her so dark
and heavy, had been to them but morning mists, and the four years
which had changed her from a happy girl into a thoughtful, anxious
woman, had brought them to an age which, if it is full of the follies
of childhood, also partakes of the earnestness of youth; an age when
deep foundations of enduring confidence may be laid by one who can
enter into and direct the deeper flow of mind and feeling which lurks
hid beneath the freaks and fancies of the early years of girlhood.
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