h, arriving there after dark. "We walked down to her house. I
then left her and hastened to my mother's.

"Well, mother," said I, after the first salutations were over, "have you
heard the news about Mrs. St. Felix?"

"No, what has she done now?"

"Oh, she has done nothing, but a relation in Ireland has left her a lot
of money, and she is going over there immediately. Whether she will come
back again nobody knows."

"Well, we can do without her," replied my mother, with pique. "I'm very
glad that she's going, for I have always protested at Virginia's being
so intimate with her--a tobacco shop is not a place for a young lady."

"Mother," replied Virginia, "when we lived in Fisher's Alley Mrs. St.
Felix was above us in situation."

"I have desired you very often, Virginia, not to refer to Fisher's
Alley; you know I do not like it--the very best families have had their
reverses."

"I cannot help thinking that such has been the case with Mrs. St.
Felix," replied Virginia.

"If you please, Miss Saunders, we'll drop the subject," replied my
mother, haughtily.

The news soon spread; indeed, I walked to several places where I knew it
would be circulated, and before morning all Greenwich knew that Mrs. St.
Felix had been left a fortune: some said ten thousand pounds, others had
magnified it to ten thousand a year. When I called upon her the next
day, I found that she had made arrangements for carrying on her business
during her absence, not having stated that she quitted forever, but that
she would write and let them know as soon as she arrived in Ireland what
her decision would be, as she was not aware what might be the property
left her. The doctor, who had undertaken to conduct her affairs during
her absence, looked very woebegone indeed, and I pitied him; he had
become so used to her company that he felt miserable at the idea of her
departure, although all hopes of ever marrying her had long been
dismissed from his mind. Mrs. St. Felix told me that she would be ready
that evening, and I returned home and found Virginia in tears; her
mother had again assailed her on account of her feelings toward Mrs. St.
Felix; and Virginia told me that she was crying at the idea of Mrs. St.
Felix going away much more than at what her mother had said; and she
requested me to walk with her to Mrs. St. Felix that she might wish her
farewell.

When we arrived Mrs. St. Felix embraced Virginia warmly, and took her
into the little bac