xed a new ribbon where it was wanted, and saw that
all was as it should be. Men think but little how much of this kind
is endured that their eyes may be pleased, even though it be but for
an hour.

"Oh! mamma, how good you are," said Bell, as the two girls came in,
only just in time to make themselves ready for returning to dinner.

"Mamma is always good," said Lily. "I wish, mamma, I could do the
same for you oftener," and then she kissed her mother. But the squire
was exact about dinner, so they dressed themselves in haste, and went
off again through the garden, their mother accompanying them to the
little bridge.

"Your uncle did not seem vexed at my not coming?" said Mrs Dale.

"We have not seen him, mamma," said Lily. "We have been ever so far
down the fields, and forgot altogether what o'clock it was."

"I don't think Uncle Christopher was about the place, or we should
have met him," said Bell.

"But I am vexed with you, mamma. Are not you, Bell? It is very bad of
you to stay here all alone, and not come."

"I suppose mamma likes being at home better than up at the Great
House," said Bell, very gently; and as she spoke she was holding her
mother's hand.

"Well; good-bye, dears. I shall expect you between ten and eleven.
But don't hurry yourselves if anything is going on." And so they
went, and the widow was again alone. The path from the bridge ran
straight up towards the back of the Great House, so that for a moment
or two she could see them as they tripped on almost in a run. And
then she saw their dresses flutter as they turned sharp round, up the
terrace steps. She would not go beyond the nook among the laurels by
which she was surrounded, lest any one should see her as she looked
after her girls. But when the last flutter of the pink muslin had
been whisked away from her sight, she felt it hard that she might not
follow them. She stood there, however, without advancing a step. She
would not have Hopkins telling how she watched her daughters as they
went from her own home to that of her brother-in-law. It was not
within the capacity of Hopkins to understand why she watched them.

"Well, girls, you're not much too soon. I think your mother might
have come with you," said Uncle Christopher. And this was the manner
of the man. Had he known his own wishes he must have acknowledged to
himself that he was better pleased that Mrs Dale should stay away. He
felt himself more absolutely master and more comfor