Penniman. Both she and her brother, however,
exaggerated the young girl's limitations; for Catherine, though she
was very fond of her aunt, and conscious of the gratitude she owed
her, regarded her without a particle of that gentle dread which gave
its stamp to her admiration of her father. To her mind there was
nothing of the infinite about Mrs. Penniman; Catherine saw her all at
once, as it were, and was not dazzled by the apparition; whereas her
father's great faculties seemed, as they stretched away, to lose
themselves in a sort of luminous vagueness, which indicated, not that
they stopped, but that Catherine's own mind ceased to follow them.
It must not be supposed that Dr. Sloper visited his disappointment
upon the poor girl, or ever let her suspect that she had played him a
trick. On the contrary, for fear of being unjust to her, he did his
duty with exemplary zeal, and recognised that she was a faithful and
affectionate child. Besides, he was a philosopher; he smoked a good
many cigars over his disappointment, and in the fulness of time he
got used to it. He satisfied himself that he had expected nothing,
though, indeed, with a certain oddity of reasoning. "I expect
nothing," he said to himself, "so that if she gives me a surprise, it
will be all clear again. If she doesn't, it will be no loss." This
was about the time Catherine had reached her eighteenth year, so that
it will be seen her father had not been precipitate.
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