Among the latter, without a single rival, stood her young
friend, Alice Goodwin, who was then about her own age. Never was the
love of sisters greater or more beautiful than that which knit the
innocent hearts of those two girls together. Their affections, in short,
were so dependent upon each other that separation and absence became a
source of anxiety and uneasiness to each. Neither of them had a sister,
and in the fervor of their attachment, they entered into a solemn
engagement that each of them should consider herself the sister of the
other. This innocent experiment of the heart--for such we must consider
it in these two sisterless girls--was at least rewarded by complete
success. A new affinity was superadded to friendship, and the force of
imagination completed what the heart begun.
Next to Agnes was Alice Goodwin awarded a place in Mr. Hamilton's
heart. 'Tis true he had nieces; but in consequence of the bitter and
exasperating temper of their mother, who was neither more nor less than
an incendiary among her relations, he had not spoken to her for
years; and this fast occasioned a comparative estrangement between
the families.
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