A very cordial friendship sprang up between them,--
not the effusive girl-love, with its iterative kisses, tears, and
flow of loosened hair, but springing from the respect inspired by
sound and positive qualities.
The winter before, Betty had been invited to visit her friend in
the city, and had passed a very excited and delightful week in the
stately Bartram mansion. If she were at first a little fluttered
by the manners of the new world, she was intelligent enough to
carry her own nature frankly through it, instead of endeavoring to
assume its character. Thus her little awkwardnesses became
originalities, and she was almost popular in the lofty circle when
she withdrew from it. It was therefore, perhaps, slightly
inconsistent in Betty, that she was not quite sure how Miss Bartram
would accept the reverse side of this social experience. She
imagined it easier to look down and make allowances, as a host,
than as a guest; she could not understand that the charm of the
change might be fully equal.
It was lovely weather, as they drove up the sweet, ever-changing
curves of the Brandywine valley.
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