Bullsom had insisted upon
ordering for her did ample justice to her graceful curves and lithe
buoyant figure. The pallor of her cheeks, too, which she had eyed just
now with so much dissatisfaction, was far removed from the pallor of
ill-health; her mouth, which had lost its discontented droop, was full
of pleasant suggestions of humour. She was distinctly a very charming
and attractive young woman--and yet she turned away with a sigh. She
was twenty-seven years old, and she had been unconsciously comparing
herself with a girl of eighteen.
She drew down one of the blinds and set the tea-tray where she could sit
in the shadow. She was conscious of having dressed with unusual
care--she had pinned a great bunch of fragrant violets in her bosom.
She acknowledged to herself frankly that she was anxious to appear at
her best. For there had come to her, in the midst of her busy life--a
life of strenuous endeavour mingled with many small self-denials--a
certain sense of loneliness--of insufficiency--a new thing to her and
hard to cope with in this great city where friends were few.
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