the birth of
their only child, Olga. At first Louise seemed heart-broken by the
loss of her husband, but not more than two years afterward she
married Mr. Godwin Palma, who was reputed very wealthy. I have not
seen her since Olga was a child, but have heard that her second
husband was an exceedingly stem, exacting man; treating her with far
less tenderness than she received from poor Leo Neville, who was
certainly very fond of her. Mr. Godwin Palma died suddenly one day,
while riding down in his carriage to his office on Wall Street, but
he had made a will only a few weeks previous, in which he bequeathed
all his fortune--except a small annuity to Louise--to his son Erle,
whose own mother had possessed a handsome estate. Louise contested
the will, but the court sustained it; and I have heard that Mr. Erle
Palma has always treated her with marked kindness and respect, and
that he provides liberally for her and Olga. Louise is a proud,
ambitious woman, fond of pomp and splendour; but in those tastes she
was educated, and I always liked her, valued her kindness of heart,
and strict integrity of purpose."

"You do not know my guardian?"

"I never met him till the day he brought you first to see me, and I
was surprised to find him so comparatively young a man, for he is
rapidly building up a very enviable reputation in his profession. He
has been quite generous in his treatment of some relatives, who were
at one time much reduced. His father's sister, Julia Palma, married a
dissipated young physician named Roscoe, and your guardian has almost
entirely educated one of the boys; sent him to college, and then took
him into his law-office, besides assisting in the maintenance of Mrs.
Roscoe, who died about three years ago. Regina, I had a letter from
Elise Lindsay since you were here. She sends kindest messages of love
to you, and says you must not allow new friends to supplant old ones.
She mentioned also that the climate of India did not seem very
desirable for Douglass, who has been quite sick more than once since
his settlement in Rohilcund. I am glad that Elise has gone to
Douglass, for his father died of consumption, and I always feared he
might have inherited the tendency, though his constitution seems
tolerably good. After Peyton's death, she had nothing to keep her
from her noble boy. God grant that India may never prove as fatal to
all her earthly hopes as it has been to mine."

A spasm of pain made her gentle pa