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” Mi BI OLE A

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and neatly written, “ From Miss Rivers, Miss ; to

_wait for an answer.”

Flora opened and read :—

“Dear Miss Armyn,—My aunts hope that you will conte here to luncheon to-morrow, and spend the afternoon with us, if you have no particular en- gagement. We are afraid that it would be dull for your brother to stay so long, as we are all by our- selves, and Evan is not at home, but we shall be very glad to see him if he likes to come to afternoon tea before he escorts you home.

“Yours sincerely, “ Nest CoRDELIA WILLIAMS.”

This note was written in a small, neat hand, and was the pink of tidiness, but Flora accidentally turned over the leaf, and found two memorandums there, which Nest had not suspected, though one was in her own handwriting. First of all, in a strong bold hand, was the notification, “Two and a half currant and raspberry, two sugar, two pots of jam ;” and directly under it, as if for comment, came a German verse with its translation beneath it.

Shadow love and shadow kisses, Shadow life, all wondrous strange :

Deem’st thou, fool, that all our blisses Sure abide and never change?

Flora burst out laughing, “ Look here, Escott. Do you think that is meant as a serious warning to me, or does it refer to the keeping of the currant and raspberry jam ?”

“‘ The jam, I should say,” said Escott gravely.

“J should never have thought she could have done such a stupid thing as that. She looks much too prim. If it had been the little one—”

‘‘ The little one would have been too much on the spot to do any thing of that sort,” said Escott. “Well, do you mean to go?”

“T don’t know if papa will let me,” said Flora. “ As I don’t care twopence halfpenny whether I go or not, I suppose he will say in his sweetest tone, ‘ Go, by all means, my dear.’ ”

Flora swept out of the room, and swept in again after a minute’s absence.

“ Justas I said, I am by all means to go, because

' it will be such an advantage to me to have such a

nice girl as Nest Williams for my friend. That, at least, I am determined I never will!”

However, Flora scribbled off a hasty acceptance of the invitation, and the deed was done.

As soon as she reached the Panelled House, it began to rain, and rained persistently all day. Nest and Winny had hoped to take their visitor for a walk, which would have been something lo do; but instead of this there was nothing for it but to sit in the drawing-room, talking company talk of the weariest description. At length Winny, by a stroke of the audacity of genius, solved the difficulty.

66 THE PANELLED HOUSE.

“Miss Armyn, would you mind coming to sit in the dining-room while I do some pasting of my library books ? I can’t have them up here, and it is a pity to waste the chance of a wet day for doing them.” |

Flora graciously assented, and while Winny | fluttered about the room, ostensibly upon the pre- text of putting away Nest’s music, she found occa- sion to whisper in her sister’s ear, “ Let me have her for half an hour, and see what I can make of her. We shall never thaw at this rate.”

Nest assented, and Flora and Winny went into the dining-room, where Flora was soon established in an easy chair with her feet on the fender before a bright fire, while Winny’s slight little figure flitted about the table, pasting and handling the dirty books. Flora did not offer to help her ; the work looked uninviting and disagreeable, and Flora was not given to doing good-natured things without invitation.

No one, however, could long be unsociable with Winny. The gleesome voice and the light-hearted laugh were irresistible, and before long Flora was telling her about Skepwith and her former life there.

“You can’t think how we hated it,” she said, “We had a little cottage with horribly low, small rooms, so that we were quite ashamed to ask any body there ; and indeed we could not have had any one to tea or dinner, for papa always would have the housekeeping in his own hands, and the way he stinted us no one would believe. Cold mutton and rice-pudding day after day ; no fires except in the depth of winter, and then never inmy bedroom ; and as for my dress, if you had seen it you never would have believed how shabby it was. Grandmamma used to say I was not dressed like a lady, and he always had one answer, he was very sorry, but he could not afford it. When all the time he was sending pounds and pounds out to India, that he need not have done in the least. But he never would listen to grandmamma.”

Winny was slightly astonished at this sudden confidence, and perhaps her face showed it.

“JT am shocking you, I suppose ; but I can’t help it. I’d much sooner that every one should know the footing we are on with papa, or they will be shocked sooner or later,” said Flora. ‘ You know it is impossible that we can feel towards him as we might if he had been different. I am sure the life he led poor mamma was quite dreadful ; banishing her and us up to Shedagra, a horrid little wild place where we never saw a human being, and refusing to send us to England, so that every one was crying shame upon him.”

“But,” said Winny, “I thought he gave up the army on purpose to take you to England.”

“ So he did ; but what good was that when he has made our lives a burden to us ever since? Think