"
Her voice was clear and sweet, but it had none of the humour which gave
piquancy to Betty's. It might soothe, caress, even reprimand, but it could
never jest; for life to Mrs. Ambler was soft, yet serious, like a continued
prayer to a pleasant and tender Deity.
"I'm sure I don't see how you stood it," said Betty, sympathetically.
"Oh, I rode, my dear," returned her mother. "I used to ride very often with
your father or--or one of the others. I had a brown mare named Zephyr."
"And you never wanted to be alone, never for a single instant?"
"Alone?" repeated Mrs. Ambler, wonderingly, "why, of course I read my Bible
and meditated an hour every morning. In my youth it would have been
considered very unladylike not to do it, and I'm sure there's no better way
of beginning the day than with a chapter in the Bible and a little
meditation. I wish you would try it, Betty." Her eyes were upon her
daughter, and she added in an unchanged voice, "Don't you think you might
manage to make your hair lie smoother, dear? It's very pretty, I know; but
the way it curls about your face is just a bit untidy, isn't it?"
Then, as the Governor came in from his day in town, she turned eagerly to
hear the news of his latest speech.
"Oh, I've had a great day, Julia," began the Governor; but as he stooped to
kiss her, she gave a little cry of alarm. "Why, you're frozen through!" she
exclaimed. "Betty, stir the fire, and make your father sit down by the
fender.
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