A constant fear tormented
Emily lest she should disgrace Lady Rotherwood, or be considered by
some stranger as merely a poor relation of the great people, and not
as the daughter of the gentleman of the oldest family in the county.
She was, therefore, anxious to be perfectly fashionable, and not to
wear the same things too often, and in her disinterested desire to
maintain the dignity of the family the allowance which she received
at Christmas melted away in her hands.
Lily, though exempt from this folly, was not in a satisfactory state
of mind. She was drawn off from her duties by a kind of spell. It
was not that she liked Florence's society better than her home
pursuits.
Florence was indeed a very sweet-tempered and engaging creature; but
her mind was not equal to that of Lilias, and there was none of the
pleasure of relying upon her, and looking up to her, which Lilias had
learnt to enjoy in the company of her brother Claude, and of Alethea
Weston. It was only that Lily's own mind had been turned away from
her former occupations, and that she did not like to resume them.
She had often promised herself to return to her really useful
studies, and her positive duties, as soon as her brothers were gone;
but day after day passed and nothing was done, though her visits to
the cottages and her lessons to Phyllis were often neglected.
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