poised less saucily; trouble had taught Rose lessons which had left a
lasting impression upon her character. She had been retained in Mrs.
Lessing's service; nor ever showed any desire to quit it, until such
time as Tom was ready to come home and fetch her. But oh! how long it
seemed to wait. He had hinted, a month or two back, at the possibility
of his being sent over to England upon his master's business; but in
the letter which followed immediately after, no mention had been made
of the subject, so Rose feared that the happy chance was not to come
yet, since which time there had been silence--the longest silence that
had occurred since Tom had left. Whether the rose-garden unconsciously
brought back her lover to her mind it is impossible to say, but as Rose
snipped the buds there were tears in her eyes with the simple longing
for news of her absent lover. She chose all white roses to-day, for
the newly-arrived baby-girl at the Court was to be baptized, and Mr.
Curzon was coming to take the service; and Rose had planned that she
would slip off quietly to the church and put a wreath of white roses
round the font. It was a business that must be carried through with
secrecy and despatch, as presently her mistress would want her to help
her to dress: she was far from strong yet. A straying bramble caught
her gown and held it fast, and with an impatient little cry she stooped
down to disentangle it, when, to her astonishment, a great brown hand
from behind closed upon hers, and a strong arm was slipped round her
waist, and a voice, that set her trembling from head to foot,
exclaimed--

"Rose, Rose, my beauty! what luck to find you, the first minute I've
come, like this! I was just making my way up the drive, and caught
sight of something shining through the trees; and if it wasn't your
head shining all yellow in the sun the same as when I left it! And I
crept up behind you, and caught you crying over a thorn, I do believe."

Needless to say it was Tom Burney who was the speaker, a broader,
bigger Tom than Rose remembered: a handsome, strong fellow that any
girl might be proud of as a lover, who spoke half in jest to hide the
fact that tears were not far from his own eyes. He held her so tightly
clasped to his breast, that it was some few minutes before Rose could
either speak or get a good look at her lover.

"Oh, Tom, you've taken the life out of me; you've given me such a
start!" she said when she could spe