herself
that she was only going there to see how her governess did her duty by
her children. In this way, by sitting two hours every forenoon with
Miss Melville, she contrived to pick up something, and though both her
husband and Jane would have been glad if the studies had been
prosecuted a little further, they were very much pleased with so much
improvement.

The idea of learning music still haunted Mrs. Phillips, and she
obtained her husband's consent to her having lessons from Emily's
master; but her progress was so slow that she tired of it in a month,
and blamed her teacher for his stupid dry way of setting her to work.
If Miss Melville had only understood music, she knew she would have got
on ever so much better, for she had such a knack of teaching people. On
the whole, Jane was satisfied with her situation, and with the manner
in which she filled it, and when Mr. Phillips paid her her first
quarter's salary, he expressed himself in the highest degree satisfied
with everything she had done. If she could only have felt that Elsie
was well and happy, she would have been perfectly happy herself, but
the letters from Edinburgh were not at all cheerful. Elsie's account of
herself, and Francis's accounts of her, were unsatisfactory, and even
Peggy had written a few lines recently to say that she was uneasy about
her, and did not think the situation at Mrs. Dunn's agreed with Miss
Elsie at all.

It was still months before she could hope to go to Edinburgh to see her
sister; but she wrote, urging her to give up her employment, and to
take as much open-air exercise as possible, and also to take medical
advice on the subject; but Elsie did not agree to this. The family
plans were all laid for a visit to Derbyshire, and Mr. Brandon, who
seemed always to be on the move, when his old neighbours were leaving
London, seeing Jane's distress about her sister, ventured on a
good-natured suggestion in her behalf.

"I think you might go up now and see Peggy before you go to Derbyshire;
you know she is anxious to see Emily and the other children. I could go
with you. I wish so much to see the meeting between them."

"We cannot go to Scotland so early in the season. Autumn is the time
when it is pleasant to travel in the north."

"But then I cannot be a witness to Peggy's delight, for if you delay so
long I will have to be off to Melbourne before that time. I thought if
you went now you might leave Miss Melville with her sister