said Mrs. Heron, with undisturbed composure, "they are
in Elizabeth's hands. I leave them entirely to her. I trust Elizabeth
perfectly."

"Is that the reason why Elizabeth does not dine with us?" said Percival,
looking at his step-mother with an expression of deep hostility. But
Mrs. Heron's placidity was of a kind which would not be ruffled.

"Elizabeth is so kind," she said. "She teaches them, and does everything
for them; but, of course, they must go to school by-and-bye. Dear papa
will not let me teach them myself. He tells me to forget that ever I was
a governess; but, indeed"--with a faint, pensive smile--"my instincts
are too strong for me sometimes, and I long to have my pupils back
again. Do I not, Kitty, darling?"

"I was not a pupil of yours very long, Isabel," said Kitty, who never
brought herself to the point of calling Mrs. Heron by anything but her
Christian name.

"Not long," sighed Mrs. Heron. "Too short a time for me."

At this point Mr. Heron, who noticed very little of what was going on
around him, turned to his son with a question about the politics of the
day. Percival, with his nose in the air, hardly deigned at first to
answer; but upon Vivian's quietly propounding some strongly Conservative
views, which always acted on the younger Heron as a red rag is supposed
to act upon a bull, he waxed impatient and then argumentative, until at
last he talked himself into a good humour, and made everybody else good
humoured.

When they returned to the untidy but pleasant-looking drawing-room, they
found Elizabeth engaged in picking up the children's toys, straightening
the sheets of music on the piano, and otherwise making herself generally
useful; She had changed her dress, and put on a long, plain gown of
white cashmere, which suited her admirably, although it was at least
three years old, undeniably tight for her across the shoulders, and
short at the wrists, having shrunk by repeated washings since the days
when it first was made. She wore no trimmings and no ornaments, whereas
Kitty, in her red frock, sported half-a-dozen trumpery bracelets, a
silver necklace, and a little bunch of autumn flowers; and Mrs. Heron's
pale-blue draperies were adorned with dozens of yards of cheap
cream-coloured lace. Vivian looked at Elizabeth and wondered, almost for
the first time, why she differed so greatly from the Herons. He had
often seen her before; but, being now particularly interested by what he
had heard