Jilted! , Volume I by W. Clark Russell

"I look upon this as one of the fortunate days of your life. It ends / an epoch and begins one. Hitherto the life-blood has been gradually / chilling in your veins, as you sat aloof within your circle of / gentility, while the rest of the world was fighting out its battle / with one kind of necessity or another. Henceforth you will at least / have the sense of natural and healthy effort for a purpose, and of / lending your strength -- be it great or small -- to the united struggle / of mankind. " / _The House of the Seven Gables._

For the rest of the week I was every day at Grove End. I took long / walks with Conny and her mamma, drove with them, wandered about the / grounds, which were tolerably extensive and well wooded, smoked / incessantly, listened to Conny playing the piano, read the papers, / wrote to my father and to Lord Towers, whose reply I was anxious that / my relations should see, and was, altogether, so perfectly contented, / that I should have viewed my return to Longueville as a calamity.