{"product_id":"2940012366634","title":"VILLETTE","description":"My godmother lived in a handsome house in the clean and ancient town of\u003cbr\u003eBretton. Her husband's family had been residents there for generations,\u003cbr\u003eand bore, indeed, the name of their birthplace--Bretton of Bretton:\u003cbr\u003ewhether by coincidence, or because some remote ancestor had been a\u003cbr\u003epersonage of sufficient importance to leave his name to his\u003cbr\u003eneighbourhood, I know not.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eWhen I was a girl I went to Bretton about twice a year, and well I\u003cbr\u003eliked the visit. The house and its inmates specially suited me. The\u003cbr\u003elarge peaceful rooms, the well-arranged furniture, the clear wide\u003cbr\u003ewindows, the balcony outside, looking down on a fine antique street,\u003cbr\u003ewhere Sundays and holidays seemed always to abide--so quiet was its\u003cbr\u003eatmosphere, so clean its pavement--these things pleased me well.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eOne child in a household of grown people is usually made very much of,\u003cbr\u003eand in a quiet way I was a good deal taken notice of by Mrs. Bretton,\u003cbr\u003ewho had been left a widow, with one son, before I knew her; her\u003cbr\u003ehusband, a physician, having died while she was yet a young and\u003cbr\u003ehandsome woman.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eShe was not young, as I remember her, but she was still handsome, tall,\u003cbr\u003ewell-made, and though dark for an Englishwoman, yet wearing always the\u003cbr\u003eclearness of health in her brunette cheek, and its vivacity in a pair\u003cbr\u003eof fine, cheerful black eyes. People esteemed it a grievous pity that\u003cbr\u003eshe had not conferred her complexion on her son, whose eyes were\u003cbr\u003eblue--though, even in boyhood, very piercing--and the colour of his\u003cbr\u003elong hair such as friends did not venture to specify, except as the sun\u003cbr\u003eshone on it, when they called it golden. He inherited the lines of his\u003cbr\u003emother's features, however; also her good teeth, her stature (or the\u003cbr\u003epromise of her stature, for he was not yet full-grown), and, what was\u003cbr\u003ebetter, her health without flaw, and her spirits of that tone and\u003cbr\u003eequality which are better than a fortune to the possessor.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eIn the autumn of the year ---- I was staying at Bretton; my godmother\u003cbr\u003ehaving come in person to claim me of the kinsfolk with whom was at that\u003cbr\u003etime fixed my permanent residence. I believe she then plainly saw\u003cbr\u003eevents coming, whose very shadow I scarce guessed; yet of which the\u003cbr\u003efaint suspicion sufficed to impart unsettled sadness, and made me glad\u003cbr\u003eto change scene and society.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eTime always flowed smoothly for me at my godmother's side; not with\u003cbr\u003etumultuous swiftness, but blandly, like the gliding of a full river\u003cbr\u003ethrough a plain. My visits to her resembled the sojourn of Christian\u003cbr\u003eand Hopeful beside a certain pleasant stream, with \"green trees on each\u003cbr\u003ebank, and meadows beautified with lilies all the year round.\" The charm\u003cbr\u003eof variety there was not, nor the excitement of incident; but I liked\u003cbr\u003epeace so well, and sought stimulus so little, that when the latter came\u003cbr\u003eI almost felt it a disturbance, and wished rather it had still held\u003cbr\u003ealoof.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eOne day a letter was received of which the contents evidently caused\u003cbr\u003eMrs. Bretton surprise and some concern. I thought at first it was from\u003cbr\u003ehome, and trembled, expecting I know not what disastrous communication:\u003cbr\u003eto me, however, no reference was made, and the cloud seemed to pass.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThe next day, on my return from a long walk, I found, as I entered my\u003cbr\u003ebedroom, an unexpected change. In, addition to my own French bed in its\u003cbr\u003eshady recess, appeared in a corner a small crib, draped with white; and\u003cbr\u003ein addition to my mahogany chest of drawers, I saw a tiny rosewood\u003cbr\u003echest. I stood still, gazed, and considered.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"Of what are these things the signs and tokens?\" I asked. The answer\u003cbr\u003ewas obvious. \"A second guest is coming: Mrs. Bretton expects other\u003cbr\u003evisitors.\"\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eOn descending to dinner, explanations ensued. A little girl, I was\u003cbr\u003etold, would shortly be my companion: the daughter of a friend and\u003cbr\u003edistant relation of the late Dr. Bretton's. This little girl, it was\u003cbr\u003eadded, had recently lost her mother; though, indeed, Mrs. Bretton ere\u003cbr\u003elong subjoined, the loss was not so great as might at first appear.\u003cbr\u003eMrs. Home (Home it seems was the name) had been a very pretty, but a\u003cbr\u003egiddy, careless woman, who had neglected her child, and disappointed\u003cbr\u003eand disheartened her husband. So far from congenial had the union\u003cbr\u003eproved, that separation at last ensued--separation by mutual consent,\u003cbr\u003enot after any legal process. Soon after this event, the lady having\u003cbr\u003eover-exerted herself at a ball, caught cold, took a fever, and died\u003cbr\u003eafter a very brief illness. Her husband, naturally a man of very\u003cbr\u003esensitive feelings, and shocked inexpressibly by too sudden\u003cbr\u003ecommunication of the news, could hardly, it seems, now be persuaded but\u003cbr\u003ethat some over-severity on his part--some deficiency in patience and\u003cbr\u003eindulgence--had contributed to hasten her end.","brand":"SAP","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47073453408496,"sku":"2940012366634","price":0.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0737\/7593\/9824\/files\/2940012366634_p0.jpg?v=1763567767","url":"https:\/\/shop-qa.barnesandnoble.com\/products\/2940012366634","provider":"Barnes \u0026 Noble (DEV)","version":"1.0","type":"link"}