lying her lack of experience.

With a beating heart she awaited the reply. It was but few lines, but
all Owen was in them.

'MY DEAR NORA--You always were an angel of goodness. I feel your
kindness more than I can express. If my darlings were to be left at
all, it should be with you, but I cannot contemplate it. Bless you
for the thought!

'Yours ever, O. SANDBROOK.'

She heard no more for a week, during which a dread of pressing herself on
him prevented her from calling on old Mrs. Sandbrook. At last, to her
surprise, she received a visit from Captain Charteris, the person whom
she looked on as least propitious, and most inclined to regard her as an
enthusiastic silly young lady. He was very gruff, and gave a bad account
of his patient. The little boy had been unwell, and the exertion of
nursing him had been very injurious; the captain was very angry with
illness, child, and father.

'However,' he said, 'there's one good thing, L. has forbidden the
children's perpetually hanging on him, sleeping in his room, and so
forth. With the constitutions to which they have every right, poor
things, he could not find a better way of giving them the seeds of
consumption. That settles it. Poor fellow, he has not the heart to
hinder their always pawing him, so there's nothing for it but to separate
them from him.'

'And may I have them?' asked Honor, too anxious to pick her words.

'Why, I told him I would come and see whether you were in earnest in your
kind offer. You would find them no sinecure.'

'It would be a great happiness,' said she, struggling with tears that
might prevent the captain from depending on her good sense, and speaking
calmly and sadly; 'I have no other claims, nothing to tie me to any
place. I am a good deal older than I look, and my friend, Miss Wells,
has been a governess. _She_ is really a very wise, judicious person, to
whom he may quite trust. Owen and I were children together, and I know
nothing that I should like better than to be useful to him.'

'Humph!' said the captain, more touched than he liked to betray; 'well,
it seems the only thing to which he can bear to turn!'

'Oh!' she said, breaking off, but emotion and earnestness looked
glistening and trembling through every feature.

'Very well,' said Captain Charteris, 'I'm glad, at least, that there is
some one to have pity on the poor things! There's my brother