I feel too weary and feeble to talk, and William will take good care of me." He fixed his dark eyes mournfully on her face; she could not meet his gaze, and her head sunk upon her bosom.
"Believe me, Miss Irving, every other pleasure is second to that of watching over and being with you.

If, in the proposed change, my feelings alone are to be consulted, allow me to remain with you." "Thank you, Dr.Bryant, you are very kind to remember me so constantly; my only object was to promote your enjoyment of the day." They rode for some distance in silence.
"This is my birthday; and how little I fancied, on the last anniversary, that I should be so situated," said Dr.Bryant, as though speaking unconsciously.
"How one's feelings change with maturer years.

I remember well that, in my childhood, the lapse of time seemed provokingly slow, and I wondered why, from year to year, it seemed so very long.

The last three years of my life, though somewhat checkered, have flown too quickly away.

A month ago, I would willingly have recalled them, but they are lost in the ocean of eternity, only to be remembered now as a changing, feverish dream," Mary replied.
"Miss Irving, without the benign and elevating influence of Hope, that great actuating principle from the opening to the close of life, what a dreary blank our existence would prove.