im."

"Then, Mr. Shubrick, the world must be very much mistaken in its
calculations. People would not even understand you, if they heard you
say that."

"Do _you_ understand me?"

"Oh yes. And yet I cannot tell you what delight I take in all this,
every time I see it. The feeling of satisfaction seems to go to my very
heart. And so when I am in the house,--and the gardens. Oh, you have
not seen the gardens, nor the House either; and there is no time
to-day. But I do not know that I enjoy anything much more than this
view. Though the House is delicious, Mr. Shubrick."

"I can believe it," he said, smiling. "You see what reason I have to
rejoice that I am a poor man."

Dolly thought, poor child, as they turned and went homeward, she could
hardly go so far as to rejoice that she was a poor woman. Not that she
wanted Brierley; but she did dread possible privation which seemed to
be before her. She feared the uncertainty which lay over her future in
regard to the very necessaries of life; she shrank a little from the
difficulty and the struggle of existence, which she knew already by
experience. And then, Mr. Shubrick, who had been such a help and had
made such a temporary diversion of her troubled thoughts, would be soon
far away; she had noticed that he did not speak of some other future
opportunity of seeing the house and gardens, when she remarked that it
was too late to-day. He would be going soon; this one walk with him was
probably the last; and then the old times would set in again. Dolly
went along down among the great oaks and beeches, down the bank now
getting in shadow, and spoke hardly a word. And Mr. Shubrick was as
silent as she, probably as busy with his own thoughts. So they went,
until they came again in sight of the bridge and the little river down
below them, and a few steps more would have brought the cottage into
view.

"We have come home fast," said Mr. Shubrick. "Do you think we need go
in and show ourselves quite yet? Suppose we sit down here under this
tree for a few minutes again, and enjoy all we can."

Dolly knew it must be approaching the time for her to see about supper;
but she could not withstand the proposal. She sat down silently and
took off her hat to cool herself.

"I come here very often," she said, "to get a little refreshment. It is
so pleasant, and so near home."

"You call Brierley 'home.' Have you accepted it as a permanent home?"

"What can we do?" said Dolly. "Mother