have I sat beneath them with my lord, watching the sports of our children,—the lovely boys, whose loss first taught me the frailty of human joys, first convinced me that it is hereafter we can only expect permanent felicity. 'Tis a conviction of this kind, which loosens the hold the world too often almost imperceptibly gains upon the heart; let us therefore never dare to murmur at events that draw us still closer to our God."
Madeline sighed; she felt indeed that nothing will so soon detach us from life as disappointment.
"I fear, my love (cried the Countess), that I have infected you with my gloom."
"No, madam (replied Madeline) you have not."
"I fear (resumed the Countess, regarding her with earnestness), that some secret sorrow preys upon your heart; a sorrow which,
