et I know she said things to me that she would
not say to any one else. She would laugh at me, tease me, and never
spare my blushes of embarrassment and discomfiture; but as she was
wishing me good-bye the last afternoon, she put both her hands on my
shoulders and stood looking down upon me with a strange softening of
face and manner. 'I have liked having you here, child; I knew I should
from the first moment I saw you, and I shall miss you after you have
gone. But I do not mean to lose sight of you, and when you want
advice,--or shall I say comfort?--come over and take advantage of my
quiet resting-place here to soothe and solace yourself. It is strange
advice to give you, but though I may have chaffed you about your
religious views, keep a firm grip of them, and go on your own way
straight-forward, without bending or relaxing in the slightest. I
believe you have got hold of the real thing, and if you have, I should
think it was worth keeping.'

Tears were in my eyes, and I laid my hand on her arm. 'I am praying
that you may find it too, Miss Rayner--or rather Him, for it is Christ
Himself that fills my life.'

She stooped and kissed me, but did not say another word, only there was
a wistful look in her eyes that haunted me for long afterwards. Old
John had his say, too, when parting with me at the station: 'I hope you
have h'enjoyed your visit, miss, and have had an h'edifying time; the
mistress wants some one of her h'own sex to talk to h'on h'occasions,
though, h'as I h'often say, she can hold her h'equal with h'any man if
she chooses. H'and h'if I make bold to say so, h'if you want a mount
h'at h'any time, Rawdon shall be h'at your disposal; you did him credit
the h'other day with the hounds, h'and I shall never raise h'any
h'objection to h'allowing you to ride him!'

It was certainly a different kind of life to which I returned. The
house was full of visitors, and all chance of quiet seemed gone. I
think Violet and Nelly were genuinely glad to see me. Kenneth, of
course, did not spare me; he coloured the story so of the way I had
joined the hounds, as to make General Forsyth quite vexed, and Mrs.
Forsyth did not seem to believe my true version of it.

'Why do you love to make people uncomfortable if you can?' I said in
desperation to him, after he had been chaffing me unmercifully on the
same subject before a lot of people in the drawing-room one afternoon.

'Because it is my nature to, I suppose,'