join forces with him as much as she could (for they two
were the hares of the family, the rest being all hounds), but it was no
use. I believe her chief reason for maintaining relations with her
brother was that she might keep an eye on his children and give them a
lift if they proved nice.

When Miss Pontifex had come down to Battersby in old times the children
had not been beaten, and their lessons had been made lighter. She easily
saw that they were overworked and unhappy, but she could hardly guess how
all-reaching was the regime under which they lived. She knew she could
not interfere effectually then, and wisely forbore to make too many
enquiries. Her time, if ever it was to come, would be when the children
were no longer living under the same roof as their parents. It ended in
her making up her mind to have nothing to do with either Joey or
Charlotte, but to see so much of Ernest as should enable her to form an
opinion about his disposition and abilities.

He had now been a year and a half at Roughborough and was nearly fourteen
years old, so that his character had begun to shape. His aunt had not
seen him for some little time and, thinking that if she was to exploit
him she could do so now perhaps better than at any other time, she
resolved to go down to Roughborough on some pretext which should be good
enough for Theobald, and to take stock of her nephew under circumstances
in which she could get him for some few hours to herself. Accordingly in
August 1849, when Ernest was just entering on his fourth half year a cab
drove up to Dr Skinner's door with Miss Pontifex, who asked and obtained
leave for Ernest to come and dine with her at the Swan Hotel. She had
written to Ernest to say she was coming and he was of course on the look-
out for her. He had not seen her for so long that he was rather shy at
first, but her good nature soon set him at his ease. She was so strongly
biassed in favour of anything young that her heart warmed towards him at
once, though his appearance was less prepossessing than she had hoped.
She took him to a cake shop and gave him whatever he liked as soon as she
had got him off the school premises; and Ernest felt at once that she
contrasted favourably even with his aunts the Misses Allaby, who were so
very sweet and good. The Misses Allaby were very poor; sixpence was to
them what five shillings was to Alethea. What chance had they against
one who, if she had a mind, could pu