blow where they list; we cannot tell
whence they come or whither they go. I am sorry I do not love you,
but--I am very tired. If you care to come and see me when you come back,
come _if_ I have any place in which to receive you."

"If I write, will you answer my letters?"

"Oh no; don't write; I would rather you did not."

"I am a brute to keep you when you look so white; I'll go. Good-by for
the present--only for the present, you dear, sweet woman!" He kissed her
hand twice and went quickly out of the room.

Katherine heaved a sigh of relief. The degree of liking she had for De
Burgh made her feel greatly distressed at having been obliged to give
him pain. Yet she was not by any means disposed to trust him; his
restless eagerness to gratify every whim and desire as it came to him,
the kind of harshness which made him so indifferent to the feelings and
opinions of those who opposed him--this was very repellent to
Katherine's more considerate and sympathetic nature. Besides, and above
all, De Burgh was not Errington; and it needs no more to explain why the
former, who had no reason hitherto to complain of the coldness of women,
found the only one he had ever loved with a high order of affection
untouched by his wooing.

The day after this interview Katherine, accompanied by Miss Payne, went
down to Sandbourne to interview the principal of the boys' school, to
explain the state of affairs, to give notice that she should be obliged
to remove them, and to pay in advance for the time they were to remain.

The visit was full of both pain and pleasure. The genuine delight of the
children on seeing her unexpectedly, their joy at being permitted to go
out to walk with her, their innocent talk, and the castles in the air
which they erected in the firm conviction that they were to have horses
and dogs, man-servants and maid-servants, all the days of their lives,
touched her heart. The principal gave a good account of both. Cecil was,
he said, erratic and excitable in no common degree, but though
troublesome, he was truthful and straightforward, while Charlie promised
to develop qualities of no common order. He entered with a very friendly
spirit into the anxiety of the young aunt, whose motherly tenderness for
her nephews touched him greatly. He gave her some valuable advice, and
the address of two schools regulated to suit parents of small means, and
which he could safely recommend. By his suggestion nothing was said for