But the elements had preceded them--fire and water--and not a
trace of the old building remained. At the expiration of a week,
Mr. Hastings started for home, half wishing he could take Dora
with him, and wondering if his sister were in earnest, when she
asked him _if he loved her?_
A new world now seemed open to Dora, who never thought it possible
for her to be so happy. The ablest instructors were hired to teach
her, and the utmost care bestowed upon her education, while
nothing could exceed the kindness both of Mrs. Elliott and Mrs.
Hastings, the latter of whom treated her as she would have done a
young and favorite daughter. One evening when Mrs. Elliott was
dressing for a party, Dora asked permission to arrange her soft
glossy hair, which she greatly admired.
"It's not all my own," said Mrs. Eliott, taking off a heavy braid
and laying it upon the table. "I bought it in Rochester, nearly two
years ago, on the day of Ella's party. I have often wished I knew
whose it was," she continued, "for to me there is something
disagreeable in wearing other people's hair, but the man of whom I
purchased it, assured me that it was cut from the head of a young,
healthy girl.
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