Her shyness disappeared, and his caresses seemed as natural as those of an elder brother, in which light she regarded him.
Thus time passed on, and the girl rapidly approached the stature of womanhood.

Apparently she grew too fast for her slight reserve of physical strength.

She nominally attended a fashionable school, but was often absent from ill health, and for this reason her sister permitted her to follow her own moods.

Indolence and inanition accounted largely for her lack of strength.

Exercise brought weariness, and she would not take it.