suppose he
should turn out to be a married man?" cried she under her breath. "So
that is the depth of his philosophy! My Arthur will be mightily amused."

"What a darling little naughty boy that was!" whispered Bessie, also
laughing. "How I should like to have him at Abbotsmead! What fun it
would be!"

"Mind, you don't mention him at Abbotsmead. Mr. Fairfax will be the last
to hear of him; the mother must be some unpresentable person. If Mr.
Laurence Fairfax is married, it will be so much the worse for you."

"Nothing in the way of little Fairfax boys can be the worse for me," was
Bessie's airy, pleasant rejoinder. And she felt exhilarated as by a
sudden, sunshiny break in the cloudy monotony of her horizon.

Mr. Laurence Fairfax returned to his study when he had parted with his
visitors, and there he found Burrage awaiting him. "Sir," she said with
a gravity befitting the occasion, "I must tell you that Master Justus
has been seen by those two ladies."

"And Master Justus's pet lamb and cart and horses," quoth her master as
seriously. "You had thrown the toys into the cupboard too hastily, or
you had not fastened the door, and the lamb's legs stuck out. Miss
Fairfax made a note of them."

"Ah, sir, if you would but let Mr. John Short speak before the story
gets round to your respected father the wrong way!" pleaded Burrage. Mr.
Laurence Fairfax did not answer her. She said no more, but shook her
head and went away, leaving him to his reflections, which were more
mischievous than the reflections of philosophers are commonly supposed
to be.

Bessie returned to Kirkham a changed creature. Her hopefulness had
rallied to the front. Her mind was filled with blithe anticipations
founded on that dear little naughty boy and his incongruous cupboard of
playthings in her uncle's study.

If there was a boy for heir to Abbotsmead, nobody would want her; she
might go back to the Forest. Secrets and mysteries always come out in
the end. She had sagacity enough to know that she must not speak of what
she had seen; if the little boy was openly to be spoken of, he would
have been named to her. But she might speculate about him as much as she
pleased in the recesses of her fancy. And oh what a comfort was that!

Mr. Fairfax at dinner observed her revived animation, and asked for an
account of her doings in Norminster. Then, and not till then, did Bessie
recollect his message to her uncle Laurence, and penitently confessed
her