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the real reason, unavyowed, was that the Misses
Rivers were not over-confident in Mrs. Anderson’s
discretion, or Winny’s either, and therefore hesi-
tated to trust her where they did not hesitate to
trust Nest.

Nest had improved both in looks and manners in
these three years. She was, if not positively
pretty, at least very near it, and her expression
had gained a depth and sweetness which made her
face more attractive than that of many regular
beauties. She was still very quiet and gentle, but
she had lost her shyness, and did not seruple to
show that she had a vein of quiet fun in her when
occasion offered. She was a remarkable contrast
to the four Miss Andersons, who all made much
of her, and were four of the most good-natured
and hard-favoured young ladies in London town.

Mrs. Anderson had been left a widow early, and
had had views of her own about the education of
her daughters. ‘“ My dears,” she used to say, when
they were idle at their lessons, “if you had any
chance of being pretty, it would not matter so
much about your being empty-headed: but the
only chance for you is to take up the line of
common sense and intellectual pursuits.” So
Lydia, Jane, and Maria had severally taken up
intellectual pursuits, as they were bidden. Lydia
painted: Jane played: Maria studied natural
science: and their mother, in her own mind,
pointed to them in the spirit of the old east-country
game :

One can bake, and one can brew;

One can shape, and one can sew ;

One can sit by the fire and spin,

And one can make a cake fit for a king.

Poor Louisa, the youngest, was the only one who
had disappointed her mother’s views for her. She
was a nice, sensible girl, but she had no pleasure
in any intellectual pursuit. She could not play:
she could not draw: she could not bear natural
science; and when her mother put her through
a course of philosophic reading, she failed entirely
from not being able to remember the difference
between subjective and objective. “ Louey ought
to have been a beauty,” said her sisters: but poor
Louey was the ugliest of the set, and taller and
bigger boned than any of them.

Nest came among the Andersons with a pursuit
of her own—or rather, she found that it was
expected that she should devote her mornings to
it, as Lydia, Jane, and Maria did to theirs. About
a year before, Nest had actually found courage to
offer a set of her little fairy tales to a publisher,
and had, to her delight and astonishment, received
for them what really was only a small sum, but
seemed to her inexperience riches untold, pro-
ducing a watch for Winny, a writing-case for
Evan, a whole edition of Tennyson for herself,

Fa Pa

THE PANELLED HOUSE.

and presents for all her other friends in proportion.
Then there was the delight of correcting the first
proofs—a delight which loses terribly by repeti-
tion—and the glory of seeing what had gone up in
the poverty of manuscript appear in a nicely
printed and prettily bound bock. And s0, every
morning, Mrs. Anderson gave her and Maria the
back drawing-room to write and read in, while
Lydia and Jane practised and drew in the front
one, and Louey, not being good for any thing else,
worked the family sewing-machine in the little
den downstairs.

Now Nest sketched a little, and sang a little.
She knew that she did not do as well as many
people of her aéquaintance, and rated her own
efforts very low: but they gave pleasure to herself,
and kept her mind open to the receptive delight of
art, if no more. Here, however, she found her
little efforts looked upon as a snare, and was
candidly told by Mrs. Anderson that it was a
great pity to fritter away her time on such things
when she had a real pursuit.

“Why don’t you sing, Louey? You have a
very sweet voice,” said Nest one day when they
were alone at the piano.

“Oh, Lydia is the musical one, you know: and
mamma always says that two in the family ought
not to have the same pursuit,” said Louey, placidly.

“ Why not ?”

“Oh, because they interfere with one another.
I am afraid mamma is very much disappointed
because I have no pursuit: you can’t call the
sewing-machine a pursuit, I’m afraid. But really I
think it is just as well: for there would be nobody
to write the letters or do the needlework if it were
not for me. And besides, the others do want
somebody to listen to their music, or look at their
drawing, or put their specimens in order some-
times: and of course, having pursuits, they can’t.”

Nest could not help thinking that Louey’s placid
unselfishness and content at being left behind inevery
thing was something better than even a pursuit.

Now, there is our party next week,” said
Louey. ‘I have to write all the invitations and
see that the room is nice, and help mamma arrange
things. I hope you will like it, Nest. It will be
very literary, and there will be two or three lions.
Edward always brings two or three of his friends
‘for the sake of the L. L.’s,’ he says. He always
calls the other three the L. L.’s, after the literary
ladies in ‘ Martin Chuzzlewit.’ ”

“He is your cousin, is he not ?” said Nest.

“Yes. He has a pursuit, you know: he is a ‘a

critic, and does the reviews for the Rambler. We
sent him your book, Nest, and he is going to
review it, I hope. He is so clever, only he is
rather satirical; but then you are clever too, so
you won't be afraid of him: I am.”

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