I
am sure.'

"Distrust still kept me silent. I remembered that she had watched for
Miss Minerva's return, and that she had seen Miss Minerva go up to my
room. The idea that she meant to be revenged on us both for having our
secrets, and keeping them from her knowledge, took complete possession
of my mind.

"'Are you feeling better?' she asked.

"'Yes.'

"'Is there anything I can get for you?'

"'Not now--thank you.'

"'Would you like to see Mr. Null again, before to-morrow?'

"'Oh, no!'

"These were ungraciously short replies--but it cost me an effort
to speak to her at all. She showed no signs of taking offence; she
proceeded as smoothly as ever.

"My dear Carmina, I have my faults of temper; and, with such pursuits as
mine, I am not perhaps a sympathetic companion for a young girl. But
I hope you believe that it is my duty and my pleasure to be a second
mother to you?'

"Yes; she did really say that! Whether I was only angry, or whether I
was getting hysterical, I don't know. I began to feel an oppression in
my breathing that almost choked me. There are two windows in my room,
and one of them only was open. I was obliged to ask her to open the
other.

"She did it; she came back, and fanned me. I submitted as long as I
could--and then I begged her not to trouble herself any longer. She put
down the fan, and went on with what she had to say.

"'I wish to speak to you about Miss Minerva. You are aware that I gave
her notice, last night, to leave her situation. For your sake, I regret
that I did not take this step before you came to England.'

"My confidence in myself returned when I heard Miss Minerva spoken of in
this way. I said at once that I considered her to be one of my best and
truest friends.

"'My dear child, that is exactly what I lament! This person has
insinuated herself into your confidence--and she is utterly unworthy of
it.'

"Could I let those abominable words pass in silence? 'Mrs. Gallilee!' I
said, 'you are cruelly wronging a woman whom I love and respect!'

"'Mrs. Gallilee?' she repeated. 'Do I owe it to Miss Minerva that you
have left off calling me Aunt? Your obstinacy, Carmina, leaves me no
alternative but to speak out. If I had done my duty, I ought to have
said long since, what I am going to say now. You are putting your trust
in the bitterest enemy you have; an enemy who secretly hates you with
the unforgiving hatred of a rival!'

"Look back at my letter, describing wha