and neither mother nor child
took cognizance of the flight of time.

Of her past the girl withheld only the acknowledgment of her profound
interest in Mr. Palma, and when questioned concerning his opposition
to her engagement with Mr. Lindsay she had briefly announced her
belief that he was hastening the preparations for his marriage with
Mrs. Carew. Of him she spoke only in quiet terms of respect and
gratitude, and her mother never suspected the spasm of pain that the
bare mention of his name aroused.

Thus far no allusion had been hazarded to the long-veiled mystery of
her parentage, and Mrs. Orme wondered at the exceeding delicacy with
which her daughter avoided every reference that might have been
construed into an inquiry. As the soft motherly hand passed
caressingly over the forehead resting so contentedly on her knee,
Regina continued:

"In all the splendid imagery that makes 'Aurora Leigh' deathless,
nothing affected me half so deeply as the portrait of the motherless
child; and often when I could not sleep, I have whispered in the wee
sma' hours:

"I felt a mother want about the world,
And still went seeking, like a bleating lamb
Left out at night, in shutting up the fold,
As restless as a nest-deserted bird,
Grown chill through something being away, though what--
It knows not. So mothers have God's license to be missed."

"My guardians were noble, kind, high-toned, honourable gentlemen, and
I owe them thanks, but ah! a girl should be ward only to those who
gave her being; and, mother, brown-eyed mother, sweet and holy, it
would have been better for your child had she shared her past with
none but you. Do I weary you with my babble? If so, lay your hand
upon my mouth, and I will watch your dear face, and be silent."

In answer, the mother stooped and kissed many times the perfect lips
that smiled at the pressure; but the likeness to a mouth dangerously
sweet, treacherously beautiful, mocked her, and Regina saw her turn
away her eyes, and felt rather than heard the strangled moan.

"Mother-kisses, the sweetest relic of Eden that followed Eve into a
world of pain. All these dreary years I have kept your memory like a
white angel-image, set it up for worship, offered it the best part of
myself; and I know I have grown jealously exacting, where you are
concerned. I studied because I wished you to be proud of me; I
practised simply that my music might be