s usual when I saw them
last; but the mater has not been at all well for some months back. She
has had to leave the house in charge of her sister, Mrs Everett, and go
off to some baths in Germany for a course of treatment, and I believe
she will not return to England until the autumn. Rosalind--"

"Yes--Rosalind?"

The major's handsome face softened into a smile, which showed that the
subject of his young sister was pleasant to his mind.

"Rosalind," he said slowly, "is a circumstance--decidedly a circumstance
to be taken into account! We look to her to redeem the fortunes of the
family, and the mater considers nobody under a royal duke worthy of her
acceptance. She is certainly a lovely girl, and a more agreeable one
into the bargain than I expected her to turn out. She was a spoiled,
affected child, but she took a turn for the better after her accident.
My parents, I believe,"--Major Darcy looked at his companion with a
brightening glance,--"my parents ascribe a great part of the change to
your beneficial influence."

Peggy's cheeks flushed with pleasure, for she had by no means outgrown
her childish love of a compliment; but she shrugged her shoulders, and
replied in a tone of would-be indifference:

"Plus the wholesome discipline of having her hair cut short. Poor
Rosalind! Never shall I forget her confiding to me that she was
`wesigned to becoming a hideous fwight,' while all the time she was
admiring her profile in the mirror and arranging her curls to hide the
scar. We had been on very distant terms before that accident; but when
we were both convalescent we took courage, and spoke faithfully to one
another on the subject of our several failings. I told Rosalind, in
effect, that she was a conceited doll, and she replied that I was a
consequential minx. It cleared the air so much that we exchanged vows
of undying friendship, which have been kept to the extent of some half-
a-dozen letters a year. I know much more about Rosalind than I do about
Rob. Please tell me all you can about Rob!"

"Oh, Rob, you know, was always a boor," said Rob's brother lightly,
"and, upon my word, he is a boor still! He did remarkably well at
Oxford, as no doubt you heard, and then went travelling about for a
couple of years through a number of uncomfortable and insanitary lands.
He has always been a great gardener and naturalist, and he brought home
some new varieties of shrubs and flowers, out of which he makes a fai