med to me monstrously unfair that my little
one, because she came into the world a fortnight too late, should be
deprived of what in all equity ought to have been hers. I was the elder
of the twins, and I considered that any preference should have been in
my favour. I was anxious to bring a lawsuit, and try to upset the will
and cause the estate to be equally divided between my sister and myself,
but our solicitor assured me I had no legal case, and should only
involve myself in endless proceedings and costs. Madeleine and I were
too much attached to each other to have an open quarrel, and before her
I managed to hide my bitter disappointment. We were about to be
separated, for my husband was returning to England, while hers was still
remaining in India. I was thankful afterwards that we had parted on such
good terms, for I never saw her again. Only a few days after our steamer
started she succumbed to a sudden epidemic of cholera that swept over
the place where they were living, and the telegram announcing her death
met me at Port Said. I had loved her dearly, and the blow was cruel. But
there was a harder one still in store for me. My husband, whose ill
health had been the cause of our leaving India, became rapidly worse,
and before I even realized the extent of the danger, he too was taken
from me. In a single year I had lost father, sister, and husband, and at
twenty-three I found myself a young widow, with an only child.

"At this juncture my brother-in-law, David Clarke, returned to England,
bringing his motherless baby in charge of an ayah. He did not intend to
stay, only to settle a few necessary business matters and to make some
arrangement for his little girl, who was delicate, and could not be
reared in India. He had no near relations of his own who were willing to
be troubled with the child, so he asked me if I would undertake to bring
her up with mine, and I accepted the charge. I was drawn to little
Rosamond for her mother's sake, though I could never forgive her for
being a fortnight older than her cousin. So everything was settled. I
took a house in Scotland for the summer, which I thought would be
healthy for the children, and I sent Alison on there in advance with her
own nurse. The ayah who had brought Rosamond from India was to return in
the same ship as my brother-in-law, who was starting immediately for
Madras. He wanted to see his baby till the very last, so I accompanied
him to London, taking with