"Give her everything she wants!" How often in the days that followed were
those words in Avery's mind! She strove to fulfil them to the uttermost,
but Jeanie seemed to want so little. The only trouble in her existence
just then was her holiday-task, and that she steadily refused to
relinquish unless her father gave her leave.

A few days after Maxwell Wyndham's departure there came an agonized
letter from Mrs. Lorimer. Olive had just developed scarlet fever, and as
they could not afford a nurse she was nursing her herself. She entreated
Avery to send her daily news of Jeanie and to telegraph at once should
she become worse. She added in a pathetic postscript that her husband
found it difficult to believe that Jeanie could be as ill as the great
doctor had represented, and she feared he was a little vexed that Maxwell
Wyndham's opinion had been obtained.

It was exactly what Avery had expected of him. She wrote a soothing
letter to Mrs. Lorimer, promising to keep her informed of Jeanie's
condition, promising to lavish every care upon the child, and begging
her to persuade Mr. Lorimer to remit the task which had become so
heavy a burden.

The reply to this did not come at once, and Avery had repeated the
request twice very urgently and was contemplating addressing a protest
to the Reverend Stephen in person when another agitated epistle arrived
from Mrs. Lorimer. Her husband had decided to run down to them for a
night and judge of Jeanie's state for himself.

Avery received the news with dismay which, however, she was careful to
conceal. Jeanie heard of the impending visit with as much perturbation as
her tranquil nature would allow, and during the day that intervened
before his arrival gave herself more sedulously than ever to her task.
She had an unhappy premonition that he would desire to examine her upon
what she had read, and she was guiltily aware that her memory had not
retained very much of it.

So for the whole of one day she strove to study, till she was so
completely tired out that Avery actually took the book from her at last
and declared that she should not worry herself any more about it. Jeanie
yielded submissively, but a wakeful night followed, and in the morning
she looked so wan that Avery wanted to keep her in bed.

On this point, however, Jeanie was less docile than usual. "He will think
I am shamming," she protested. "He never likes us to lie in bed unless we
are really ill."

So, since she