un to drink with
great relish, and looked thoroughly cast down.

Delia laughed a little.

"Well, I won't, then," she said. "Mrs Cooper shall stay, and neglect
her duties, and spoil your food as long as you like."

"Thank you, my dear," said the Professor, brightening up again, "she
really does extremely well, though, of course, she doesn't"--glancing at
the table--"make things look so nice as you do."

Delia blamed herself for staying away so long, when she saw with what
contented relish her old friend applied himself to the simple fare she
had prepared; it made her thoroughly ashamed to think that he should
have suffered neglect through her small feelings of jealousy and pride.
He should not be left for a whole fortnight again to Mrs Cooper's
tender mercies.

"We are to have a lesson to-night, I hope," said Mr Goodwin presently;
"it must be a long time since we had one, Delia, isn't it?"

"A whole fortnight," she answered, "but"--glancing wistfully at her
violin-case--"you've had such hard work to-day, I know, if you've been
to Pynes; perhaps it would be better to put it off."

But Mr Goodwin would not hear of this: it would refresh him; it would
put the other lessons out of his head; they would try over the last
sonata he had given Delia to practise.

"Did you make anything of it?" he asked. "It is rather difficult."

Delia's face, which until now had been full of smiles and happiness,
clouded over mournfully.

"Oh, Professor," she cried, "I'm in despair about my practising. If I
could get some more clear time to it, I know I could get on. But it's
always the same; the days get frittered up into tiny bits with things
which don't seem to matter, and I feel I don't make any way; just as I
am getting a hard passage right, I have to break off."

This was evidently not a new complaint to Mr Goodwin.

"Well, well, my dear," he said, kindly, "we will try it over together,
and see how we get on; I daresay it is better than you think."

Delia quickly collected the tea-things and carried them into the
kitchen, to prevent any chance of Mrs Cooper clattering and banging
about the room during the lesson; then she took out her violin, put her
music on the stand, and began to play, without more ado; the Professor
leaning back in his chair meanwhile, with closed eyes, and ears on the
alert to detect faults or passages wrongly rendered. As he sat there,
perfectly still, a calm expression came into his face, which m