to grow
patient and resigned!"

"Dear Vere, I have never been tried as you are. I have had only one or
two short illnesses in my life--I have never known the weariness and
disappointment--"

"No, but you have other trials. You have so much to bear, and it is so
dull and wretched for you all the time," interrupted Vere quickly, too
much engrossed in her own affairs to realise that it was not the most
polite thing in the world to denounce another girl's surroundings. As
for Rachel, she opened her eyes in purest amazement that anyone should
imagine she needed pity.

"I? Oh, you are mistaken--quite, quite mistaken. I have the most happy
home. Everyone is good and kind to me; I have no troubles, except
seeing dear father's sufferings; and so many blessings--so much to be
thankful for!"

"You mean your engagement? Mr Dudley is charming, and I am sure you
are fond of him, but you can't be married while your father lives, and--
and--one never knows what may happen. Suppose--changes came--"

Vere stopped short in the middle of her sentence, and, by a curious
impulse, Rachel turned suddenly and looked at me. Our eyes met, and the
expression in hers--the piteous, shrinking look--made me rush hotly into
the breach.

"You are talking nonsense, Vere! You don't know Mr Dudley as Rachel
does. You don't understand his character."

"No," said Rachel proudly, "you don't understand. It is quite possible
that we may never marry--many things might happen to prevent that, but
Will would never do anything that was mean and unworthy. The changes,
whatever they were, could not affect my love for him, and it is that
that makes my happiness--"

"Loving him! Not his loving you! Rachel, are you sure?"

"Oh, quite sure. Think just for a moment, and you will see that it must
be so. It is pleasant to be loved, but if you do not love in return you
must still feel lonely and dissatisfied at heart. If you love, you care
so much, so very, very much for the other's welfare, that there is
simply no time left to remember yourself; or, if you did, what does it
matter? What would anything matter so long as he were well and happy?"

Her face glowed with earnestness and enthusiasm--what a contrast from
Vere's fretful, restless expression, which always seems asking for
something more, something she has not got, something she cannot even
understand. Even Vere realised the difference, and her fingers closed
over Rachel's hand with an