ABSTRACT
If the journey was delightful to Althea from happiness possessed and reflected, its close awakened all her sensibility. The meeting of the mother and the daughters, of the eldest sister and the two who now rejoined her, was a scene that drew tears from Althea; but, like those of the immediate actors, they were tears of pleasure. The reception Mrs. Marchmont gave to her visitor was full of dignified gratitude. And so different were the person and manners of Mrs. Marchmont from those which Althea had imagined, that she could never cease wondering at the false ideas she had formed, nor rejoicing that for once the reality was infinitely more interesting than the imaginary semblance.
