ABSTRACT
Lesbia’s achievements described in the preceding chapter soon made her both known and popular in the county, at all events among the intelligent portions of its society. During the rest of that winter she and her friend made regular appearances in the hunting field, so often indeed that her uncle felt it incumbent upon him to send a subscription on her account. From hunting the young girl could easily have passed to shooting and fishing had she been so disposed; but though her uncle would have helped her, and she had no lack of invitations, she remained content with hunting, and did not care to launch into the other field sports. Manly games, however, came natural to her, football and cricket both claimed her attention in their respective seasons; and as she was not hampered with skirts, she could take her part in these on equal terms with men. Hardly an out-door or in-door exercise could be named in which she did not join with a capacity and a zest unknown to other girls, who had to compete with each other and with men, trammeled by the old and stupid fashion. She was getting ‘as hard as nails ‘ in body and mind, – as indifferent to bruises and blows as to the taunts of ‘weakerves-selish’ women, for whom she never took the trouble to conceal her contempt. Not that she was ever inconsiderate toward any one of either sex on account of weak health or other infirmity; it was only the prejudices of those who wished to keep her sex in the old grooves, which she snarled against and set her heel upon.
