ons with each other, and he naturally enough fancied
that what he so much wished for himself would appear desirable to a man
so acute and sensible as Vivian Phillips. Her calm temper, her
promptitude, her method, were all shown to great advantage in a sick
room. He forgot that Elsie's gentle tender ways and her overflowing
sympathy might be equally attractive, but Dr. Vivian was quite used to
all sorts of sick rooms, and to all sorts of nursing, and nothing was
very striking to him, so that he fell in love with neither sister,
though he liked them both very much.

Jane in particular was one of those women who may count herself
fortunate if she meets with one real lover in her lifetime. William
Dalzell was not to be counted, except perhaps as a blank, but by means
of the most favouring circumstances, she had taken Francis Hogarth's
heart into her possession, at least for time, and this was her one
prize in the strange lottery of love. No other attachment she was
likely to inspire, as she felt herself, but her lover was not so
clear-sighted. Dr. Vivian Phillips had a great respect for her, and
enjoyed her society now and then as a pleasant change from the more
insipid company of his sisters or their female acquaintances, but to
spend a life with her would be too fatiguing. She seemed always to
require him to think his best, to say his best, and to do his best in
her company. Now a wife just intelligent enough to appreciate his own
abilities, but willing in all things to be guided by him, was a
desirable thing; but one so thoroughly his equal as Jane Melville would
allow him no repose.

The children did not gain strength rapidly, and Emily in particular
made a most tardy recovery. Her illness threatened permanently to
weaken her constitution, particularly as winter was fast approaching,
and she had felt that season in England very trying during the
preceding year. Her uncle Vivian strongly recommended that she should
winter in a milder climate to re-establish her health, and Mr. Phillips
thought going to the south of France, where the girls might acquire the
language without much trouble, would be a good arrangement; but when he
mentioned it to Emily herself as an excellent idea, the child languidly
put it aside.

"Why not take up back to dear old Wiriwilta?" said she. "We were never
ill there. It is warmer and drier than France; and if Miss Melville and
dear Alice go with us, we can learn lessons just as well there as