. Miss Graham was a quiet woman, but very clever, and she
and her pupil were the best of friends.

'I wish you were in the schoolroom with me,' said Violet, as we sat
chatting together in the cool shade under the trees. 'I think we
should have great fun together, and do you know, I heard mother say to
Constance this morning that she wished you were too, for then the
difficulty would be solved. What did she mean?'

I gave an involuntary sigh, and Miss Graham looked at me a little
curiously; then, as Violet started to her feet in pursuit of a
squirrel, she laid her hand gently on my arm.

'You look troubled, Miss Thorn; I am afraid you are one of those who
try to go through life too seriously, isn't it so?'

'I don't think so,' I said with a smile; 'I am a little troubled to-day
because I am vexing both General and Mrs. Forsyth very much, I am
afraid, but I cannot help it.'

'Ah! don't do it, my dear. Take their advice, and trust them about
your life here. They are old, and you are young. I have heard from
Nelly a little about your difficulty, and I am sorry for you, for I
admire your sincerity. Still, we see things differently when we get
older, and you will find that it is always best to give way to others,
and keep your own opinions in the background, especially when you are
young.'

'It isn't my opinions that I want to bring forward,' I said, 'but I am
old enough to be responsible for my actions.'

'There was a time when I had such thoughts,' said Miss Graham; 'when I
was quite a young girl I used to long to join a Sisterhood, and devote
myself to good works for the rest of my life; but I was shown how
visionary and unpractical such ideas were, and after a time I ceased to
entertain them.'

'Why did you want to give yourself up to good works, Miss Graham?' I
asked a little curiously.

She laughed. 'Well, if you really want to know, it was partly because
I had met with a disappointment. Some one I was very fond of--in fact,
to whom I was engaged, left me to marry a girl with money, and I was
for the time disgusted with life. Then I think I did desire to live a
useful life; but now I have realized there are many different ways of
doing that.'

'I don't wonder you changed your mind, if those were your motives for
leaving the world,' I said slowly.

'Why, what other motives would you have? What is yours? Isn't it a
desire to be good and fit yourself for heaven one day?'

'No,' I replied softly;