`` It is a sorrowful story , Amy , and it seems so long ago now . I must be an old woman . Forty years ago -- and I was only twenty then . Eliza Laurance was my cousin , the only daughter of Uncle Henry Laurance . My father -- your grandfather , Amy , you do n't remember him -- had two brothers , each of whom had an only daughter . Both these girls were called Eliza after your great-grandmother . I never saw Uncle George 's Eliza but once . He was a rich man and his daughter was much sought after , but she was no beauty , I promise you that , and proud and vain to the last degree . Her home was in a distant city and she never came to Wyther Grange . `` The other Eliza Laurance was a poor man 's daughter . She and I were of the same age and did not look unlike each other , although I was not so pretty by half . You can see by the portrait how beautiful she was , and it does her scant justice , for half her charm lay in her arch expression and her vivacious ways . She had her little faults , of course , and was rather over much given to romance and sentiment . This did not seem much of a defect to me then , Amy , for I was young and romantic too . Mother never cared much for Eliza , I think , but everyone else liked her . One winter Eliza came to Wyther Grange for a long visit . The Grange was a very lively place then , Amy . Eliza kept the old house ringing with merriment . We went out a great deal and she was always the belle of any festivity we attended . Yet she wore her honours easily ; all the flattery and homage she received did not turn her head .
`` That XXXXX we first met Willis Starr .
brothers charm degree father flattery man portrait sentiment visit winter