Her mother, whom it was so hard to cherish for her own sake, she would and could love because her father had done so; that father, whose only existence now was in her own, she loved with fervour which seemed to grow daily.

Supreme, fostered by these other affections, exalted by the absence of a single hope for self, reigned the first and last love of her woman-soul.

Every hard task achieved for love's sake rendered her in thought more worthy of him whom she made the ideal man.

He would never know of the passion which she perfected to be her eternal support; but, as there is a sense of sweetness in the thought that we may be held dear by some who can neither come near us nor make known to us their good-will, so did it seem to Emily that from her love would go forth a secret influence, and that Wilfrid, all unknowing, would be blest by her faithfulness..