Oh, yes,--of course! He is so nice and clever," observed Grace, not
noticing the shade on Mattie's face. "How pleased you must be to have
him staying here so long, Archie!--you two were always such
friends."

"He comes nearly every evening," returned Mattie, disconsolately. "He
may suit you, Grace, because you are clever yourself; but I am
dreadfully afraid of him, he is so dry and sarcastic. Must he really
be asked for Tuesday, Archie?"

"Yes, indeed: you ought to have thought of him first. I am sorry for
your bad taste, Mattie, if you do not like Frere: he is a splendid
fellow, though terribly delicate, I fear. Now, Gracie, if we have
finished luncheon, I should like you to put on your wraps, and I will
show you some of my favorite haunts; and perhaps we shall meet
Frere."

Grace hesitated for a moment. She thought Archie would have included
Mattie in his invitation; but he did nothing of the kind, and she knew
him too well to suggest such a thing.

"Good-bye, Mattie dear. I hope you will have some tea ready for us
when we come back," she said, kissing her sister affectionately; but
they neither of them noticed the pained wistfulness of Mattie's look
as the door closed upon them.

They were going out without her; and on Grace's first day, too. Archie
was going to show her the church, and the schools, and the model
cottages where his favorite old women lived,--all those places that
Mattie had visited and learned to love during the eight months she had
lived with her brother. In a few weeks she must say good-bye to them
all, and go back to the dull old house at Leeds, to be scolded by her
mother for her awkward ways, and to be laughed at and teased by her
brothers and sisters. Archie was bad enough sometimes, but then he was
Archie, and had a right to his bad humors; but with the boys and girls
it was less endurable. It was, "Oh, you stupid old Matt! Of course it
was all your fault;" or, "Mattie, you goose!" from Fred; or, "You
silly child, Mattie" from her father, who found her a less amusing
companion than Grace; and even Dottie would say, "Oh, it is only
Mattie: I never care if she scolds me."

The home atmosphere was a little depressing, Mattie thought, with a
sigh, dearly as she loved her young torments. She knew she would find
it somewhat trying after these eight months of comparative freedom.
True, Archie had snubbed her and kept her in order; but one tyrant is
preferable to many. At home the thirty-years