to my home, my mother had said playfully, I have a pretty present for my Victor tomorrow he shall
have it. And when, on the morrow, she presented Elizabeth to me as her promised gift, I, with childish
seriousness, interpreted her words literally and looked upon Elizabeth as minemine to protect, love,
and cherish. All praises bestowed on her I received as made to a possession of my own. We called
each other familiarly by the name of cousin. No word, no expression could body forth the kind of relation
in which she stood to memy more than sister, since till death she was to be mine only.