t them," was the faint, quiet response.

"Oh, but it must be terrible grief when children die!" exclaimed
Barbara, clasping her hands in emotion. "I would not lose my babe for
the world! I _could_ not part with him."

"Terrible grief, and hard to bear," outwardly assented Lady Isabel.
But in her heart she was thinking that death was not the worst kind
of parting. There was another far more dreadful. Mrs. Carlyle began to
speak of the children she was to take charge of.

"You are no doubt aware that they are not mine; Mrs. Latimer would tell
you. They are the children of Mr. Carlyle's first wife."

"And Mr. Carlyle's," interrupted Lady Isabel. What in the world made her
put in that? She wondered herself the moment the words were out of her
mouth. A scarlet streak flushed her cheeks, and she remembered that
there must be no speaking upon impulse at East Lynne.

"Mr. Carlyle's, of course," said Barbara, believing Madame Vine had
asked the question. "Their position--the girl's in particular--is a sad
one, for their mother left them. Oh, it was a shocking business!"

"She is dead, I hear," said Lady Isabel hoping to turn the immediate
point of conversation. Mrs. Carlyle, however, continued as though she
had not heard her.

"Mr. Carlyle married Lady Isabel Vane, the late Lord Mount Severn's
daughter. She was attractive and beautiful, but I do not fancy she cared
very much for her husband. However that may have been, she ran away from
him."

"It was very sad," observed Lady Isabel, feeling that she was expected
to say something. Besides, she had her _role_ to play.

"Sad? It was wicked--it was infamous!" returned Mrs. Carlyle, giving
way to some excitement. "Of all men living, of all husbands, Mr. Carlyle
least deserved such a requital. You will say so when you come to know.
And the affair altogether was a mystery; for it never was observed or
suspected by any one that Lady Isabel entertained a liking for another.
It was Francis Levison she eloped with--Sir Francis he is now. He had
been staying at East Lynne, but no one detected any undue intimacy
between them, not even Mr. Carlyle. To him, as others, her conduct must
always remain a mystery."

Madame appeared to be occupied with her spectacles, setting them
straight. Barbara continued,--

"Of course the disgrace is reflected on the children, and always will
be; the shame of having a divorced mother--"

"Is she not dead?" interrupted Lady Isabel.

"She is dead