pense now that her health is quite
sufficiently restored."

"But the children were all counting on going to Stanbury Cliffs for the
Easter holidays," protested Mrs. Lorimer almost tearfully. "We cannot
disappoint them, Stephen!" Mr. Lorimer's lips closed very firmly for a
few seconds. Then, "The change home will be quite sufficient for them,"
he said. "I have given the matter my full consideration, my dear
Adelaide, and no argument of yours will now move me. Mrs. Denys and
Jeanie have been away for a month, and they must now return. It is your
turn for a change, and as soon as Eastertide is over I intend to take you
away with me for ten days or so and leave Mrs. Denys in charge of--the
bear-garden, as I fear it but too truly resembles. You are quite unfit
for the noise and racket of the holidays. And I myself have been feeling
lately the need of a little--shall I call it recreation?" Mr. Lorimer
smiled self-indulgently over the term. He liked to play with words. "I
presume you have no vital objection to accompanying me?"

"Oh, of course not. I should like it above all things," Mrs. Lorimer
hastened to assure him, "if it were not for Jeanie. I don't like the
thought of bringing her home just when her visit is beginning to do her
so much good."

"She cannot remain away for ever," said Mr. Lorimer. "Moreover, her
delicacy must have been considerably exaggerated, or such a sudden
improvement could scarcely have taken place. At all events, so it appears
to me. She must therefore return home and spend the holidays in wholesome
amusements with the other children; and when they are over, I really must
turn my serious attention to her education which has been so sadly
neglected since Christmas. Mrs. Denys is doubtless a very excellent woman
in her way, but she is not, I fear, one to whom I could safely entrust
the intellectual development of a child of Jeanie's age." He paused,
looking up with complacent enquiry at his wife's troubled face. "And now
what scruples are stirring in the mind of my spouse?" he asked, with
playful affection.

Mrs. Lorimer did not smile in answer. Her worried little face only
drew into more anxious lines. "Stephen," she said, "I do wish you
would consult Dr. Tudor before you quite decide to have Jeanie home
at present."

The Vicar's mouth turned down, and he looked for a moment so extremely
unpleasant that Mrs. Lorimer quailed. Then, "My dear," he said
deliberately, "when I decide upon a specific