ou do not know what has occurred."

"What _has_ occurred?" interrupted Deborah, before he could continue.
"It--it"--her voice grew suddenly timid--"is nothing bad about papa?"

"No, no. Your sister has arrived from Australia. In this place of
gossip, I wonder the news has not travelled to Jan or to Cheese."

They had started up, poor things, their faces flushed, their eyelashes
glistening, forgetting the little episode of the mortified vanity, eager
to embrace Sibylla.

"Come back from Australia!" uttered Deborah in wild astonishment. "Then
where is she, that she is not here, in her own home?"

"She came to mine," replied Lionel. "She supposed Mrs. Verner to be its
mistress still. I made my way here last night to ask you to come up, and
found you were gone to Heartburg."

"But--she--is not remaining at it?" exclaimed Deborah, speaking with
hesitation, in her doubt, the flush on her face deepening.

"I placed it at her disposal until other arrangements could be made,"
replied Lionel. "I am at present the guest of Lady Verner. You will go
to Sibylla, will you not?"

Go to her? Ay! They tore the curl-papers out of their hair, and flung on
bonnets and shawls, and hastened to Verner's Pride.

"Say that I will call upon her in the course of the morning, and see how
she is after her journey," said Lionel.

In hurrying out, they encountered Jan. Deborah stopped to say a word
about his breakfast: it was ready, she said, and she thought he must
want it.

"I do," responded Jan. "I shall have to get an assistant, after all,
Miss Deb. I find it doesn't answer to go quite without meals and sleep;
and that's what I have done lately."

"So you have, Mr. Jan. I say every day to Amilly that it can't go on,
for you to be walked off your legs in this way. Have you heard the
cheering news, Mr. Jan? Sibylla's come home. We are going to her now, at
Verner's Pride?"

"I have heard it," responded Jan. "What took her to Verner's Pride?"

"We have yet to learn all that. You know, Mr. Jan, she never was given
to consider a step much, before she took it."

They tripped away, and Jan, in turning from them, met his brother. Jan
was one utterly incapable of finesse: if he wanted to say a thing, he
said it out plainly. What havoc Jan would have made, enrolled in the
corps of diplomatists!

"I say, Lionel," began he, "is it true that you are going to marry
Sibylla West?"

Lionel did not like the plain question, so abruptly put. He a