already
finished.

Her eyes were full of tears when she came to tell me this, and carry
me off to the drawing-room to introduce me to her father, an
introduction she insisted upon making in spite of my entreaties,--for
I was rather shy at this period of my life, and dreaded an encounter
with a stranger.

Mr. Darrell received me most graciously. He was a tall fine-looking
man, very like the photograph in Milly's bedroom, and I detected the
hard look about the mouth which I had noticed in both portraits. He
seemed remarkably fond of his daughter; and I have never seen a
prettier picture than she made as she stood beside him, clinging to
his arm, and looking lovingly up at him with her dark hazel eyes.

He asked me where I was to spend my holidays; and on hearing that I
was to stay at Albury Lodge, asked whether I would like to come to
Thornleigh with Milly for the midsummer vacation. My darling clapped
her hands gaily as he made this offer, and cried:

'O yes, Mary, you will come, won't you?--You dear kind papa, that is
just like you, always able to guess what one wishes. There is
nothing in the world I should like better than to have Mary at
Thornleigh.'

'Then you have only to pack a box with all possible expedition, and
to come away with us, Miss Crofton,' said Mr. Darrell; 'the train
starts in an hour and a half. I can only give you an hour.'

I thanked him as well as I could--awkwardly enough, I daresay--for his
kindness, and ran away to ask Miss Bagshot's consent to the visit.
This she gave readily, in spite of some objections suggested by Miss
Susan, and I had nothing more to do than to pack my few dresses--my
two coloured muslins, a white dress for festive occasions, a black-
silk dress which was preeminently my 'best,' and some print morning-
dresses--wondering as I packed them how these things would pass
current among the grandeurs of Thornleigh. All this was finished
well within the hour, and I put my bonnet and shawl, and ran down--
flushed with hurry and excitement, and very happy--to join my friends
in the drawing-room.

Miss Bagshot was there, talking of her attachment to her sweet young
friend, and her regret at losing her. Mr. Darrell cut these
lamentations short when he found I was ready, and we drove off to
the station in the fly that had brought him to Albury Lodge.

I looked at the little station to-day with a very different feeling
from that dull despondency which had possessed me six mo