adly prejudiced.'

'Cecil, you wrong me. Was she not my Lucy's half-sister, and did not
my dearest one suffer tortures at her hands?'

'Ah! try to forget that part of the painful past. Well do I know what
your Lucy was to you, to me, to her little girls. _Try_, my dearest
brother, to be brave, and to take to your heart the text, "Vengeance is
mine, saith the Lord," and receive Miss Delacour's magnificent scheme
with a good grace.'

'And the loss of a considerable yearly income, to say nothing of the
far deeper pain of parting from my children. Really, Cecilia, I did
think you would show more pity to a sadly lonely man.'

'And I, also, am a sadly lonely woman, George; but I must not think of
myself in the matter of my beloved boys.'

'You never do, and never could, Cecil; but that woman drives me nearly
wild.'

'Dear George, try to think more kindly of her. She spoke, oh! _so_
kindly of you; indeed, she spoke most affectionately. I could not
believe that you were inclined to be jealous, and even stingy.'

Lennox rose. 'If being unwilling to deprive myself of several hundreds
a year for a total stranger, as well as parting from my dear little
lasses, is stingy, then I _am_ stingy, Cecilia; but let the matter
drop. I bow to the decrees of two women. When two women put their
heads together, what chance has poor man?'

'Oh George,' said Mrs Constable, 'since my beloved husband was killed,
whom have I had to look to but you, my dearest brother? Believe me,
this _is_ a good cause. Your children and my children _need_ to mix
with the world. Jasper must soon go to a public school, but a year in
a mixed school will do him no harm. I have been deeply puzzled of late
as to what to do with my boys' future. Then comes unexpectedly a noble
woman who opens up a plan. It seems right; it seems correct. Our
children will mix with other children. They will know the world in the
way they _must_ first know it--namely, at school; and they will be,
remember, George, within a stone's-throw of us.'

'You don't mean to say that they are to be weekly boarders?' remarked
the stricken man.

'I do say it. That is her determination. The school will be a very
large one, and I am going to-day to meet Miss Delacour at Ardshiel in
order to see what improvements are necessary. Oh, dear, dear old boy,
if I _could_ remove that frown from your brow!'

'You can't, Cecilia; so don't try. I am worsted by two women, the fate
of