'A pattern parent!' sighed Mrs. Verney; 'I trust they will repay his care. I have not yet examined carefully the claims of the different establishments which have been brought before my notice, but I will inquire and give you the result of my observations. We shall, I think, be agreed in the wish to mature Juliet's rapid intuitions into ripe judgment, without checking those electric sparkles of wit which act with such magical attraction. Your dear Annette will require a more invigorating moral atmosphere. The stimulus of excitement may, I think, be judiciously applied to her, yet not to the marring of that graceful gentleness of demeanour which enhances every natural gift.'

'And in which she is very like Rosamond,' said Mrs. Cameron. 'Speaking of Rosamond, I may mention to you, in confidence, a circumstance which is likely to be of great importance to her. Her aunt, Mrs. Fitzgerald, who has been out of health a long time, is pronounced hopelessly ill, and if she should die the whole of her property will come to Rosamond. I have never said anything about such a possibility to Rosamond, neither has Mr. Cameron. Until lately, we have both felt that Mrs. Fitzgerald might recover, and marry again; and, in fact, there are so many chances against an event of the kind, that it was very undesirable. Rosamond has a share of her mother's fortune, which would be sufficient for her under any circum. stances, but if Mrs. Fitzgerald's should come to her she will really be an heiress in a moderate way. scarcely less than two thousand a year.'

The fortune can be

'A very pleasant income for a single lady,' observed Mrs. Verney; 'and a very pleasant addition for a married one.'

'But you won't say anything about it,' said Mrs. Cameron anxiously; 'I should not have mentioned it, only that we were talking about the girls and their prospects. It seems a little hard to me, that my own children should have so much more of a struggle before them than Rosamond-but no doubt it is all right.'

'No doubt!' echoed Mrs. Verney abstractedly. did you say?'

thousand a year,

'Two

'About that; I can't be certain exactly; but pray, pray don't talk of it. Mr. Cameron would be so very much annoyed with me for mentioning the subject. He would be so afraid of being thought grasping. Perhaps, upon the whole, it will be better for Rosamond to come back to us now, because she might hear things in conversation which would put the idea into her head.'

'I should have thought that more likely to happen at home;' said Mrs. Verney decidedly.

'Why, no; she might hear of her aunt's illness-of course, indeed, she would; but no one would think of talking about the fortune.'

'Dear Rosamond's thoughts are not bent upon that kind of worldly advancement,' observed Mrs. Verney. 'She is devoting herself to art, and Elise is sharing her pleasure. I should grieve to interrupt their enjoyment. They are spending this morning at the Royal Academy.'

'By themselves?' inquired Mrs. Cameron, in some surprise. 'Oh no! Charles is taking care of them. He came up

from Northamptonshire last night.'

'I told Mr. Cameron that Mr. Verney was gone out of town,' said Mrs. Cameron.

'So he was; and he intended to remain away, but London has great attractions at this season. I daresay you will see him some time in the course of the afternoon.'

'I wish Rosamond would come back,' was Mrs. Cameron's reply.

'She shall if you wish it; only not to-day. Elise and she do so enjoy this picture-hunting. You must not urge the matter just for the few days that Charles is with us; he will be going back again into the country almost immediately.' 'Are you quite sure?'

'Quite-so far as that London makes him ill; and if he should not go of his own accord, the physicians will send him there. Poor fellow ! He is a martyr to his exertions in that Indian climate.'

'He must have a great deal of energy of mind,' said Mrs. Cameron, 'in spite of his ill-health.'

'Immense! and such high aims; such a sense of the responsibility of the European nations-of England in particular-with regard to the advancement of universal civilisation! I wish you could have heard him talk last night about the separate vocation of each nation; it was better than any lecture. Being so clever, I feel that his society is the greatest possible advantage to my girls; and I am sure you will feel the same about your Rosamond, and be content to leave her with us.'

'I might be, if I could be quite sure that Mr. Cameron would approve.'

'Oh! leave Mr. Cameron to me. I shall soon persuade him. I mean him to dine with us to-morrow, and then we will talk about it. In the meantime you may be quite sure that Rosamond is safe. Now, good-bye, my dear; I have spent a great deal more time here than I can afford, with my whirl of engagements; but you know that your children's interests are always near my heart.'

Mrs. Verney kissed Mrs. Cameron on both cheeks, and turned towards the door, but came back again. I forgot the dressmaker; shall I send her here? She will effect a complete metamorphose in Myra's appearance.'

'I suppose it is necessary,' said Mrs. Cameron; 'but I really begin to despair about making Myra presentable.'

'But I do not. Madame Laget has a most wonderful genius, and she really is not at all expensive. I have such faith in her that I believe she could even convert Mrs. Patty Kingsbury into a first-rate specimen of fashion. And she has such a power of suiting the dress to the wearer; it is an absolute gift.'

'Poor Mrs. Patty!' observed Mrs. Cameron. 'Speaking of her reminds me that Myra had a letter from her this morning, full of lamentation over Miss Medley's condition. There seems really a doubt whether the poor thing will ever recover mentally. Mrs. Patty says that the fever is diminish ing, but that she is as confused as ever, and Mr. Harrison thinks unfavourably of her.'

'Alas! alas ! The poor human intellect! So soon ren

dered useless!' sighed Mrs. Verney. 'It is a lesson for us all ; though I delight in talent-I can't help doing so. I wish you could be with us to-morrow. We shall have some first-rate men, and I quite look forward to hearing the conversation. Now, really, good-bye. I am so sorry for poor Miss Medley, and for Mrs. Patty, too; do tell her so; good-bye;' and Mrs. Verney sailed out of the room, steering her way carefully amongst the light chairs and fancy tables, and when arrived safely at the door, turning round once more to smile, and whisper a French Adieu, au revoir.

6

CHAPTER XXII.

MRS. PATTY's letter was brought to Myra at rather an unpropitious moment for sympathy. London was very exciting, and though Myra had thought beforehand that she should dislike it, she was beginning to feel the influence of the engagements and amusements in one way or other provided for her. On leaving home it had seemed that nothing could be so important as the village, the school, Miss Medley's illness, and Johnnie Ford's admission into the Idiot Asylum, which was still in process of attainment, but not yet secured; but a morning concert, a visit to the Water-Colour Gallery, a little shopping, and a panorama, had given quite a new turn to her thoughts, and Mrs. Patty's letter seemed to belong to a period of life, and a state of existence, connected with years rather than weeks gone by.

It was very useful to Myra to be recalled, though but for a few minutes, to the quiet study at the Rectory, and the presence of the good old man who, busy with his books, was steadfastly preparing himself, day by day, for the hour which should end all learning in one world, and open to him all knowledge in another. Still better, perhaps, was it for her to be told of weariness, and watching, and the attendant trials of an illness

so serious that, even if life were spared, it could scarcely be expected to end favourably. The letter, in its quaint simplicity, took her back into a more natural and healthy moral atmosphere than that in which she was living, but it could not entirely counteract the influences which surrounded her.

Myra had already discovered that the world contains many inner worlds, each with its peculiar laws, and customs, and standard of propriety; and she knew that all these lesser worlds could not be equally right in the sight of God; but she was unable to separate the evil which they contained from the good, or to decide how much that was valuable in each might be accepted and enjoyed, whilst the rest was rejected; and so for the time being she lived in her London world without criticising it, though with the uncomfortable sensation that it did not harmonise with that which she had lately inhabited, and which she still deemed better and happier.

She

Mrs. Patty's letter was read through twice, but though the facts made an impression upon Myra, the little pieces of kindly advice with which it was interspersed were thrown away. failed to understand what Mrs. Patty had greatly desired she should understand, the warnings against admiring clever, people who had strange religious notions, and neglected going to church.

Myra, dining with strangers nearly every day, was in the habit of hearing so many strange opinions broached, that the sense of novelty and falsity in them was wearing away; and as for going to church-there were evidently, in London households, so many obstacles in the way of such a duty, that it was only charitable to believe some of them to be real. At Yare, Mr. Cameron was regular at church, both in the morning and afternoon-he felt it necessary to set an example to the parish in London he never could manage more than the morning service, whilst Mrs. Cameron required a drive, and liked to have one of her children with her, and this often stood in the way of their going more than once a-day. Besides, it was considered a necessity to hear every celebrated preacher, and in consequence there was a great deal of planning with the Verneys as to who was to go with whom; and a large portion

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