me Mrs. Burke, a respectable woman who had
once been a maid at my father's house, and was now married, to act as
temporary nurse after the ayah's departure.

"When the last good-byes were said, and my brother-in-law and the ayah
had started, I found I wished to do some shopping in London before I
went north. It is awkward and inconvenient to keep a baby at a hotel, so
I determined to send Mrs. Burke with my little niece to Scotland, where
my own responsible nurse was already settled in charge of Alison. I took
them to the station and saw them safely off in the express. In a few
days I intended to follow them. That very night, as I sat at dinner in
the hotel, I heard the newsboys shouting 'Special edition', and learnt
of a terrible northern railway smash. I set off by the first available
train for the scene of the disaster. It was impossible to get beyond
Burkden, for the line was disorganized, but I hired a carriage and went
on to Greenfield. The first point to be ascertained was whether my niece
was among the victims. I wasted some time enquiring at the railway
offices, and it was not till late in the afternoon that I saw a
newspaper poster with the heading: 'Baby's Wonderful Escape from the
Accident'. It was only after further investigations and delays that I
learnt the child was being taken care of by its rescuer at the Red Lion
Hotel. Do you remember how I came into the inn parlour that evening? The
scene is stamped vividly upon my memory. You sat by the fireside with
the baby on your knee; the light falling from the hanging lamp above
made a picture of you both. It had taken a fancy to you, though it was
always shy with me, and its soft little cheek was pressed against your
face. I looked at it, and I think if it had given one sign of
recognition, or held out its arms to me, I should have claimed it. But
it took no notice at all, and my heart hardened against it. A terrible
temptation assailed me. If I disowned the baby, nobody would ever know
its identity. It would be so easy to tell its father that it had
perished in the fire; there could be no positive evidence about any of
the victims of the disaster. If it were out of the way, then my baby
would inherit the fortune which I had always considered was my due. I
was not left well off, and money meant so much to me. I had not been
brought up to study economy, and I hated to be poor. I am a good judge
of character, and I knew from your face that you would not abando