her arms round his arm and looked into his
face with wistful eyes.

"Oh, Arthur, I wonder why it is that the two things which you have cared
for most in your life have both been denied to you? You wanted two
things--just two--and they have both ended in disappointment! If you
had been wilful and selfish, it would have been different, but you never
were that. You worked hard, and thought of other people before
yourself, and still nothing has gone right! How is it? Why is it? Why
should it be?"

Arthur shook his head sadly.

"I don't know, Peg. My luck, I suppose," he replied in a tone so
dejected that it brought the tears to his sister's eyes.

"No, it is not your luck," she contradicted quickly. "I know what it
is--it has just come to me this minute. It is because God has better
things waiting for you! It is all rough and miserable just now, but
further along the path it will get beautiful again. Oh, I believe it
will be very beautiful; and when you get there, Arthur, you will be
thankful that you went on, and did not stop half-way."

"Dear little Peg," he said fondly, "I hope I shall. It's a cheery
thought, and I'll adopt it forthwith, and try to look ahead, not
backwards, and you must do the same. No more tears, please! You must
help me by being bright and talking persistently of some thing else.
And now I must go, or you will never be ready for that dinner you want
so badly. I'm wery hungry myself, so please don't keep us waiting."

He hurried out of the room, leaving Peggy to continue her hairdressing
operations with a tear trickling slowly over her cheek, and a
speculative expression in her eye.

Hungry? But he had no business to be hungry! Never in the course of
her readings had she come across the case of a rejected lover openly
avowing an impatience for dinner, and, despite her anxiety for her
brother's happiness, Peggy could not subdue a certain regret that he
should have showed such a painful inconsistency in the performance of
his part!

The next day brought the visit to London to a conclusion, but Peggy said
her adieux with the pleasant expectation of meeting her friends again
before many weeks were over. When Parliament rose, Arthur would be
free, and had agreed all the more willingly to come down to Yew Hedge,
as Rosalind and her father would at that time be visiting Lady Darcy in
Switzerland. An invitation to Eunice for the same time had also been
eagerly accepted, and Peggy