Gathered In by Catherine Helen Spence — Read

Mr. Gray had never found his daughter so wayward and whimsical as now that they had left their fellow-travellers, and they were supposed to be taking their pleasure together. She wanted to go everywhere, as it were, at once; she seemed to be always expecting pleasure which she did not receive, and her only idea during each sight or amusement or party was where should they go next, what was to come that would be more exciting or more satisfactory than the present. He had expected that his daughter would shine in the Anglo-Australian society which he himself so much enjoyed, but to old friends and to new friends she was not the radiant winning woman she had been at Wilta, or even during the voyage, but a somewhat capricious and exacting person.

It was evident to Mr. Gray that until Edith came to some understanding with Kenneth Oswald she would not be herself again; but she refused to move towards Scotland, in spite of her friend Sybil's repeated invitations, and her descriptions of how beautiful the Highlands were looking. After taking her about to some of his pleasantest friends without any improvement in his daughter's spirits, Mr. Gray thought that a visit to the silliest people of his acquaintance might have the desired effect.