"And what of her?" asked I: "has anything happened to her?"
"What," said he, darting an impatient glance, "is it nothing to be
reduced to this paltry situation- to be caged in a miserable
cottage- to be obliged to toil almost in the menial concerns of her
wretched habitation?"
"Has she then repined at the change?"
"Repined! she has been nothing but sweetness and good humor. Indeed,
she seems in better spirits than I have ever known her; she has been
to me all love, and tenderness, and comfort!"
"Admirable girl!" exclaimed I. "You call yourself poor, my friend;
you never were so rich- you never knew the boundless treasures of
excellence you possess in that woman."
"Oh! but, my friend, if this first meeting at the cottage were over,
I think I could then be comfortable. But this is her first day of real
experience; she has been introduced into a humble dwelling- she has
been employed all day in arranging its miserable equipments- she
has, for the first time, known the fatigues of domestic employment-
she has, for the first time, looked round her on a home destitute of
every thing elegant,- almost of every thing convenient; and may now be
sitting down, exhausted and spiritless, brooding over a prospect of
future poverty.
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