Intercourse between Maud and her parents, now that they lived
together, was, as might have been expected, not altogether natural
or easy. She came to them with boundless longings, ready to expend
in a moment the love of a lifetime; they, on their side, were
scarcely less full of warm anticipation; yet something prevented the
complete expression of this mutual yearning. The fault was not in
the father and mother if they hung back somewhat; in very truth,
Maud's pure, noble countenance abashed them. This, their child, was
so much the superior of them both; they felt it from the first
moment, and could never master the consciousness. Maud mistook this
for coldness; it checked and saddened her. Yet time brought about
better things, though the ideal would never be attained. In her
father, the girl found much to love; her mother she could not love
as she had hoped, but she regarded her with a vast tenderness, often
with deep compassion. Much of sympathy, moreover, there was between
these two. Maud's artistic temperament was inherited from her
mother, but she possessed it in a stronger degree, of purer quality,
and under greater restraint. This restraint, however, did not long
continue to be exercised as hitherto.
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