ABSTRACT
The summer was advanced before Mrs. Vallard could prevail upon her friend Mrs. Miltern to part with her beloved Selena tho' promise had been long given that she should receive visit from her godchild when the spring should have completed her seventeenth year. At last conquered by her importunity, at the advice of her husband, Mrs. Miltern consented with some pain that Selena should spend month with the friend for whom tho' long divided by distance, she still retained the warmest affection, and in whose care she placed the utmost confidence. Selena herself accustomed from her birth to the exclusive retirement of Miltern Abbey considered this separation from her family as well as the interruption to her pursuits and studies as a sacrifice. Mrs. Vallard had been for many years a widow, and since the death of her husband had resided at Hillbarton.
