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131 STRAIT IS THE GATE

Then there were letters dated from Fongueuse mare again , where Juliette came to stay with her in July "Edouard and Juliette left us this morning. It is my little niece whom I regret most; when I see her again in six months' time I shall no longer recognise every one of her movements; she had scarcely one which I hadn't seen her invent. Growth is always so mysterious and surprising; it is through failure of attention that we are not oftener astonished at it. How many hours I have spent, bending over the little cradle, where so many hopes lie centred. By what selfishness, by what conceit, by what lack of desire for improvement is it that development ceases so soon, and that every creature becomes definitive, when still so far from God? Oh! if we could, if we would but approach nearer to Him think, what emulation! “Juliette seems very happy . I was grieved at first to find that she had given up her piano and her reading; but Edouard Teissières doesn't like music and hasn't much taste for books; no doubt Juliette is acting wisely in not seeking her pleasure where he cannot follow her. On the other hand, she takes an interest in her husband's occupations and he tells her all about his business, .

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