Lily Gordon, the Young Housekeeper by Cousin Kate. by C.D. Bell (Paperback)

This historic book may have numerous typos or missing text. Not indexed. Purchasers can download a free scanned copy of the original book (without typos) from the publisher. 1866. Not illustrated. Excerpt: ... T was a cold, stormy winter evening a few weeks after the marriages. The pupils were assembled in what they called their own parlour. It was a good-sized, well-proportioned room, and looked very comfortable with its glowing fire, bright lights, and pretty tasteful furniture. The young ladies were seated round the large table in the centre of the room, engaged with their various works, drawings, &c. They looked busy and happy, and there was a pleasant hum of young voices talking and laughing. They were all about the same age. The younger children were in the play-room, and the governesses had each retired to her own room. For Mrs Blair was as considerate to her assistants as to her pupils. Each had a small room to herself, where she might pursue her own private avocations without interruption; and, in order to give time for these, Mrs Blair did not require their attendance upon the young ladies after seven o'clock. At that hour all regular school-work ceased, the remaining hours of the day the young ladies might spend as they pleased. Mrs Blair thought it bad for them to have no time at their own disposal. She wished them to acquire habits of independent occupation, and to learn to use their leisure hours judiciously. And she believed the good so gained more than compensated for the loss of any progress in mere lessons, which might have been made by an enforced attention to them during these hours. For the children, she thought seven o'clock quite late enough for lessons; and for the elders, where she had succeeded in her constant aim to make them love study and desire self-improvement, she felt pretty sure that the time would be well employed. Where she had failed in this, she thought it signified very little what was the exact amount of knowledge which th...