I am not young now. I have had my sorrows, and with them all that wealth,
virtually unlimited, can command; and through the retrospect a few bright
and pure lights quiver along my life's dark stream--dark, but for them; and
these are shed, not by the splendour of a splendid fortune, but by two or
three of the simplest and kindest remembrances, such as the poorest and
homeliest life may count up, and beside which, in the quiet hours of
memory, all artificial triumphs pale, and disappear, for they are never
quenched by time or distance, being founded on the affections, and so far
heavenly.
CHAPTER XLV
_A CHAPTER-FULL OF LOVERS_
We had about this time a pleasant and quite unexpected visit from Lord
Ilbury. He had come to pay his respects, understanding that my uncle Silas
was sufficiently recovered to see visitors. 'And I think I'll run up-stairs
first, and see him, if he admits me, and then I have ever so long a message
from my sister, Mary, for you and Miss Millicent; but I had better dispose
of my business first--don't you think so?--and I shall return in a few
minutes.'
And as he spoke our tremulous old butler returned to say that Uncle Silas
would be happy to see him.
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