No wonder the young girls imbibed a deep warm love for all that
was beautiful in Nature. Dora never wearied of it--from the
smallest blade of grass to the most stately of forest trees, she
loved it all.
The little twin sisters grew in beauty both in body and mind; but
the contrast between them was great; Beatrice was the more
beautiful and brilliant; Lillian the more sweet and lovable.
Beatrice was all fire and spirit; her sister was gentle and calm.
Beatrice had great faults and great virtues; Lillian was simply
good and charming. Yet, withal, Beatrice was the better loved.
It was seldom that any one refused to gratify her wishes.
Dora loved both children tenderly; but the warmest love was
certainly for the child who had the Earle face. She was
imperious and willful, generous to a fault, impatient of all
control; but her greatest fault, Mrs. Vyvian said, was a constant
craving for excitement; a distaste for and dislike of quiet and
retirement. She would ride the most restive horse, she would do
anything to break the ennui and monotony of the long days.
Beautiful, daring, and restless, every day running a hundred
risks, and loved the better for the dangers she ran, Beatrice was
almost worshiped at the Elms.
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