She was fond of them both, and the effect of her life in the world into
which her marriage had introduced her had been to render her capable of
judging both these women broadly. She admired them both, and while her
feeling of affection had by circumstances been more closely cemented
with Helen, she felt that a strong friendship was possible between
herself and Mrs. Frostwinch should the lines of their lives ever fall
much together.
The modern woman, particularly if she be at all in society, has
generally to accept the possibilities of friendship in place of that
gracious boon itself. The busy round of life to-day gives ample
opportunity for judging of character, so that it is well nigh
impossible not to feel that some are worthy of friendship, some
especially gifted by nature with the power of inspiring it, while, on
the other hand, there are those who repel or with whom the bond would
be impossible. But friendship, however much it be the result of eternal
fitness and the inevitable consequence of the meeting of two harmonious
natures, is a plant of slow growth, and few things which require time
and tranquillity for their nourishment flourish greatly in this age of
restlessness and intense mental activity. The radical and unfettered
Bohemian, or such descendants of that famous race as may be supposed
still to survive, attempts to leap over all obstacles, to create what
must grow, and to turn comradeship into friendship simply because one
naturally grows out of the other; the more conservative and logical
Philistine recognizes the futility of this attitude, and in his too
careful consistency sometimes needlessly brings about the very same
failure by pursuing the opposite course.
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