every one of her studies to exhibit, could be the little, rude, ignorant Mabel. The pain of parting with Mrs. Weston was the only drawback to her content. It may be doubted whether Mrs. Harcourt was quite so delighted with Miss Dacre's improvement; and the accomplishments of her daughters were brought more sedulously forward than ever. Perhaps the secret why Mabel's little stock were so much more efficient, in her grandfather's eyes at least, was that her cousins' were produced in display, and her's from affection.
Early lessons are invaluable ones, and Mabel never forgot her first experiences. Out of mortification grew the desire of improvement; and the desire of amendment soon produced its effect. All the better qualities of her nature were now called into action by Mrs. Weston's judicious kindness. Frank, kind, and affectionate, at sixteen—when Mabel Dacre was the constant comfort and companion of her grandfather—feeling within herself at once the desire and capability of excellence; feeling, too, all the happiness both to itself and others which a well regulated disposition and a cultivated mind is capable of diffusing—Mabel often said, laughing, "I used to call Mrs. Harcourt my evil, but I ought to have called her my good, genius."
