uth, of
which Neil had spoken, was pitiable to see, as the lips quivered and the
great tears sprang to her eyes and stood on her long lashes. "Fleecing
an Italian count!" she whispered. "If mother were to send us money now,
I do not believe I would touch it."

Then she read on:

"You are sure to like Grey Jerrold, and if you do not fall in love
with him I shall be surprised. He, of course, will surrender to you
at once, and he is worthy of you. I am to make some stupid calls
with my mother and Blanche so good-by till Tuesday night. I only
live till then.

"Your loving cousin,

"NEIL."

For some time after finishing Neil's letter Bessie staid by the window,
very still and thoughtful, with a half-pleased, half-troubled look in
her young face. She was thinking of Neil's projected visit, and planning
how she could make him comfortable, and his friend.

"I can dispense with a fire in my room, and the boots I was going to
buy; these are not so very bad, though they do leak at times," and she
glanced down rather ruefully at the little shabby boots in which her
feet were incased, and which she had worn so long. "I hope Neil will not
notice them, he is so fastidious about such things," she said, with a
sigh; and then her thoughts went back to the summer when she had visited
London and met Jack Trevellian who had been so kind and done so much
for her.

Her mother had been home several times since then, and had spoken of
Jack as a noble fellow, with nothing small in his nature.

"But he is greatly changed from what he used to be," she said. "When I
first knew him at Monte Carlo, he was almost as regular at the tables as
I was myself, and a capital partner at cards; but now he never plays at
all, and did not even go inside the Casino, notwithstanding I did my
best to persuade him. I think there must be some woman concerned in the
change. Well she is fortunate if she gets Jack Trevellian. I wish
Bessie, you had more tact, for I know he was interested in you. He is
worth forty Neil McPhersons."

"Oh, mother, please don't talk like that," Bessie said, thinking to
herself that she could tell, if she would, why he did not play as
formerly, and feeling a great throb of gladness that he was keeping his
promise to her.

If he had been coming to Stoneleigh, Bessie would not have cared for her
surroundings, or her shabby shoes for he would not have noticed them, or
if he did, he would not have let he