erself exclusively to the little ones; she
never went near Cecil Temple's drawing-room; she never mingled with the
girls of the middle school as they clustered round the cheerful fire. At
meal-times she ate little, and her room-fellow was heard to declare that
she was awakened more than once in the middle of the night by the sound
of Annie's sobs. In chapel, too, when she fancied herself quite
unobserved, her face wore an expression of great pain; but if Mrs. Willis
happened to glance in her direction, instantly the little mouth became
demure and almost hard, the dark eyelashes were lowered over the bright
eyes, the whole expression of the face showed the extreme of
indifference. Hester felt more sure than ever of Annie's guilt; but one
or two of the other girls in the school wavered in this opinion, and
would have taken Annie out of "Coventry" had she herself made the
smallest advance toward them.

Annie and Hester had not spoken to each other now for several days; but
on this afternoon, which was a bright one in early spring, as Hester was
changing her school-dress for her Sunday one, and preparing for her visit
to the Misses Bruce, there came a light knock at her door. She said,
"Come in!" rather impatiently, for she was in a hurry, and dreaded being
kept.

To her surprise Annie Forest put in her curly head, and then, dancing
with her usual light movement across the room, she laid a little bunch of
dainty spring flowers on the dressing-table beside Hester.

Hester stared, first at the intruder, and then at the early primroses.
She passionately loved flowers, and would have exclaimed with ecstasy at
these had any one brought them in except Annie.

"I want you," said Annie, rather timidly for her, "to take these flowers
from me to Miss Agnes and Miss Jane Bruce. It will be very kind of you if
you will take them. I am sorry to have interrupted you--thank you very
much."

She was turning away when Hester compelled herself to remark:

"Is there any message with the flowers?"

"Oh, no--only Annie Forest's love. They'll understand----" she turned
half round as she spoke, and Hester saw that her eyes had filled with
tears. She felt touched in spite of herself. There was something in
Annie's face now which reminded her of her darling little Nan at home.
She had seen the same beseeching, sorrowful look in Nan's brown eyes when
she had wanted her friends to kiss her and take her to their hearts and
love her.

Hester w