a brother."

"Oh,--lost her--lost her," sobbed Anna-Rose.

"Come, come now," said Mr. Twist helplessly.

"Oh," she sobbed, looking at him out of her piteous eyes, "has nobody
thought of it but me? Columbus hasn't. I--I know she hasn't from
what--from what--she said. She's too--too happy to think. But--haven't
you thought--haven't you seen--that she'll be English now--really
English--and go away from me to England with him--and I--I can't go to
England--because I'm still--I'm still--an alien enemy--and so I've lost
her--lost her--lost my own twin--"

And Anna-Rose dropped her head on to her knees and sobbed in an
abandonment of agony.

Mr. Twist sat without saying or doing anything at all. He hadn't thought
of this; nor, he was sure, had Anna-Felicitas. And it was true. Now he
understood Anna-Rose's face and the despair of it. He sat looking at
her, overwhelmed by the realization of her misfortune. For a moment he
was blinded by it, and didn't see what it would mean for him. Then he
did see. He almost leaped, so sudden was the vision, and so luminous.

"Anna-Rose," he said, his voice trembling, "I want to put my arm round
you. That's because I love you. And if you'll let me do that I could
tell you of a way there is out of this for you. But I can't tell you so
well unless--unless you let me put my arm round you first...."

He waited trembling. She only sobbed. He couldn't even be sure she was
listening. So he put his arm round her to try. At least she didn't
resist. So he drew her closer. She didn't resist that either. He
couldn't even be sure she knew about it. So he put his other arm round
her too, and though he couldn't be sure, he thought--he hardly dared
think, but it did seem as if--she nestled.

Happiness, such as in his lonely, loveless life he had never imagined,
flooded Mr. Twist. He looked down at her face, which was now so close to
his, and saw that her eyes were shut. Great sobs went on shaking her
little body, and her tears, now that he wasn't wiping them, were rolling
down her cheeks unchecked.

He held her closer to him, close to his heart where she belonged, and
again he had that sensation, that wonderful sensation, of nestling.

"Little Blessed, the way out is so simple," he whispered. "Little
Blessed, don't you see?"

But whether Anna-Rose saw seemed very doubtful. There was only that
feeling, as to which he was no doubt mistaken, of nestling to go on. Her
eyes, anyhow, remained shut, and