can help it."

"Oh no," said Kitty earnestly, "and he would worry dreadfully at being
so far away." She felt very kindly towards the doctor for his
thoughtfulness for her father.

"You shall see your aunt later. She has asked for you many times, but
we hardly knew whether she was conscious or not when she spoke.
She must be kept very quiet though, and free from all anxiety. I have
got in a nurse for her. Don't be frightened. You see there was no one
here with the time or knowledge to give her the attention she required,
and it was a very serious matter. I sent for you because, if she really
wants to see you, and it would relieve her mind in any way to do so, it
is important that you should be here, and the children needed some one
to--"

"Oh," cried Kitty, remorseful that she should have forgotten her all
this time, "Anna! What a state she must be in about her mother. How is
Anna?"

"Yes, poor Anna," echoed Dr. Yearsley with a sigh, "she is in a very
distressed state. I wish you could calm her, and get her to pull
herself together a little."

"I will try," said Kitty gravely. "And there is Betty. I am longing to
see her."

"I doubt Miss Betty's complete joy at seeing you," smiled the doctor.
"I think there may be some embarrassment mingled with her pleasure.
Her return was--well, _she_ might think it ignominious. Luckily no one
in the house but myself knows that she had really run away. I am
afraid, though, that she has something on her mind that is troubling
her--something in connection with Mrs. Pike's illness."

Kitty recalled Betty's letter, and her heart sank. She became so white,
and looked so troubled, that the doctor tried to comfort her.
"Whatever she may have said or done," he explained excusingly, "she did
in utter ignorance, of course, of any ill result being likely to follow,
and she cannot be blamed entirely for the disaster. Mrs. Pike has been
seriously unwell for some time; in fact, I had ventured to speak to her
about her health, and warned her, but she resented my advice. Believe
me, that what has happened would have happened in any case; any little
upset would have brought it about; but Betty may have precipitated
matters."

Kitty listened with wide, grave eyes; her heart was heavy and anxious,
her mind full of awe and care. How terribly serious life had become all
at once; how real and possible every dreadful thing seemed, when so many
came into one's life like this.

As