But the proposal mentioned in the foregoing letter altered their plans.

Besides, they were happy in the feeling that they were making progress in all the knowledge they had so long been yearning to acquire.

They were happy, too, in possessing friends whose society had been for years congenial to them, and in occasional meetings with these, they could have the inexpressible solace to residents in a foreign country--and peculiarly such to the Brontes--of talking over the intelligence received from their respective homes--referring to past, or planning for future days.

"Mary" and her sister, the bright, dancing, laughing Martha, were parlour-boarders in an establishment just beyond the barriers of Brussels.

Again, the cousins of these friends were resident in the town; and at their house Charlotte and Emily were always welcome, though their overpowering shyness prevented their more valuable qualities from being known, and generally kept them silent.