ilemma. She always felt it difficult to leave Mrs. Colwyn alone for
many hours at a time. She had done her best to prevent her from
obtaining stimulants, but it was no easy thing to make it impossible;
and it was always dangerous to remove a restraining influence. At last
she induced an old friend, a Mrs. Maitland, to spend the day with her
stepmother, while she went to Helmsley Court; and having thus provided
against emergencies, she was prepared to spend some pleasant hours with
Margaret.

The day was cold and frosty, with a blue sky overhead, and the ground
hard as iron underfoot. A carriage was sent for Janetta, and the girl
was almost sorry that she had to be driven to her destination, for a
brisk walk would have been more to her taste on this brilliant December
day. But she was of course bound to make use of the carriage that came
for her, and so she drove off in state, while Tiny and Jinks danced
wildly on the doorstep and waved their hands to her in hilarious
farewells. Mrs. Colwyn was secluding herself upstairs in high
indignation at Janetta's presumption--first, in going to Helmsley Court
at all, and, secondly, in having invited Mrs. Maitland to come to
dinner--but Janetta did her best to forget the vexations and anxieties
of the day, and to prepare herself as best she might for the serene
atmosphere of Helmsley Court.

It was more than three months since her father's death, and she had not
seen Margaret for what seemed to her like a century. In those three
months she had had some new and sad experiences, and she almost wondered
whether Margaret would not think her changed beyond knowledge by the
troubles of the past. But in this fancy Janetta only proved herself
young at heart; in later years she found, as we all find, that the outer
man is little changed by the most terrible and heart-rending calamities.
It was almost a surprise to Janetta that Margaret did not remark on her
altered appearance. But Margaret saw nothing very different in her
friend. Her black mourning garments certainly made her look pale, but
Margaret was not a sufficiently keen observer to note the additional
depth of expression in Janetta's dark eyes, or the slightly pathetic
look given to her features by the thinning of her cheeks and the droop
of her finely curved mouth. Lady Caroline, however, noticed all these
points, and was quite aware that these changes, slight though they were,
gave force and refinement to the girl's face. Secretl