Serena.
_-_initial_S.png)
he is ever welcome! Welcome at all hours, welcome in all seasons! When the hour is one of darkness, her coming dissipates its heaviest shadows; when the season is one of joy, her presence increases its fulness; she brings Heaven's sunshine in the doors with her! To depict a balmy, all-pervading atmosphere, to paint a deliciously soothing aroma, would be tasks not more difficult than to define the nameless, soul-penetrating charm that hangs around Serena, as perfume about a flower. To sit beside her, to be near her, communicate an internal satisfaction wholly indescribable. It is not because she is always so cheerful, for many a gayer friend has not the same exhilarating power. Serena's influence is at once tranquillizing and enlivening. A sense of quietude, brightness, harmony, accompanies her. At the sound of her voice, the gentle pressure of her hand, the soft beaming of her face, calmness falls upon the restless, courage is infused into the disheartened, peace comes to the troubled,
(183)
