with regard to this small girl, that she had no time to think of being
mischievous. Besides, she had her lessons to attend to; and lessons
under Miss Archer, and Mademoiselle Omont, and, still more, under the
different masters who attended to the school, were of the most
stimulating character. The child seemed to imbibe knowledge with a
rapidity which astonished all those who watched her. She understood the
meaning of a thing at a glance, and it was soon perceived that, in
addition to her extraordinary and very remarkable beauty, she was also a
genius, or almost that, for she had a natural talent for all sorts of
things: for music, which she could already play impromptu, bringing out
wild melodies on the piano to which her hearers felt they could go on
listening for ever. Of course, the mistresses were supposed not to
approve of this sort of playing, and tried to tie Irene down to the
usual exercises and the different methods for bringing strength to the
fingers. Irene did attend to these lessons, but only in a sort of
half-hearted way; soon she broke again into those wild melodies which
seemed to pierce the heart and get more or less to the soul of the
little performer.

The Singleton girls were often now spending a day or half a day at the
Merrimans' school, and Irene and all her companions would also
frequently spend an afternoon at the Rectory. People had ceased to be
afraid of Irene. She was now like an ordinary child. It was quite true
that those who watched her narrowly still saw that wild glance in her
eyes, which could be easily excited; but then, Rosamund was near to
subdue if the moment came, and little Agnes's affectionate touch on her
arm had always the power to comfort and soothe her.

"Aggie," she said to the little girl one day, "I don't know how I lived
without you. I used to make pets of my poor leeches."

"Leeches!" said Agnes, with a shudder.

"Yes, darling. You know that dreadful story that was told you. Well, of
course it was true--quite true. But then I had no friends, and so I had
Fuzz and Buzz, and Thunder and Lightning, and the little Stars. Oh! it
used to be great fun to watch them, and to think how I could terrify
people by them."

"But," said little Agnes, "it was very cruel, wasn't it?"

"I suppose it was, Agnes. Only I wanted the magical influence of love
like yours to take the cruelty out of my heart, to smooth down all the
rough edges, and to make me feel like an ordinary girl. I f