love you. I
have been to see Mrs. Ellsworthy, and she and I had a long, long talk
about you girls. She is full of kindness, and she really and truly
loves you. It would be worse than folly, it would be wicked, to throw
such friendship away. Mrs. Ellsworthy tells me that she has been
consulting your old friend Mr. Danesfield about you. Both he and Mrs.
Ellsworthy are arranging plans which they trust you will all listen to
with patience. These plans shall be fully disclosed to you on your
return to town, but I may as well mention here that it will be
absolutely necessary that you should give up your present lives, and
should enter seriously on the great work of education. Money must be
spent for this object; but when you are able to earn well, bye-and-bye
it will be in your power to repay the money to the kind friends whose
happiness it is now to lend it to you.

"Dear Primrose,
"I am, yours affectionately,
"AGNES EGERTON."

There was much in this letter to pain Primrose, and a year before she
might have torn it up and determined in no way to be guided by it; but
a year had brought her some very strange and some very sad
experiences. She was troubled and shocked to think that Jasmine should
have taken poor Poppy's hard earnings. She was deeply distressed at
owing herself so much to Miss Egerton, and now also so large a debt to
Arthur Noel. She had worked hard, and had done wonderfully well
considering, but nevertheless at the present moment, owing to adverse
circumstances, she was plunged in debt in many directions, and saw
little hope of repaying what she owed. Life seemed very difficult to
Primrose just then, and hot tears rose to her eyes.

Should she go still farther in debt, and give up the great struggle to
be independent? Oh, no, she could not--she could not. Her pride rose
up in rebellion; her passionate longing to be free and her own
mistress, to be beholden to no one for the necessaries of life, was
too strong to be easily crushed. Better the dullest life, better be a
"continual reader" all her days than take the money of strangers. This
was her feeling, and it grew so strong moment by moment, that she
might have sat down to answer Miss Egerton's letter there and then but
for a rather innocent little remark made by Daisy.

"Dear Primrose, I forgot it in all the other great trouble, but I do
want to send fifteen shillings as soon as possible to dear good Poppy.
She lent me fifteen sh