ery in Sydney's face struck Linley with
horror. He placed Kitty in her mother's arms. The child's piteous cry,
"Oh, don't let her go! don't let her go!" followed the governess as she
suffered her martyrdom, and went out. Linley's heart ached; he watched
her until she was lost to view. "Gone!" he murmured to himself--"gone
forever!"

Mrs. Presty heard him, and answered him:--"She'll come back again!"

SECOND BOOK

Chapter XV. The Doctor.

As the year advanced, the servants at Mount Morven remarked that the
weeks seemed to follow each other more slowly than usual. In the higher
regions of the house, the same impression was prevalent; but the sense
of dullness among the gentlefolks submitted to circumstances in silence.

If the question had been asked in past days: Who is the brightest and
happiest member of the family? everybody would have said: Kitty. If
the question had been asked at the present time, differences of opinion
might have suggested different answers--but the whole household would
have refrained without hesitation from mentioning the child's name.

Since Sydney Westerfield's departure Kitty had never held up her head.

Time quieted the child's first vehement outbreak of distress under the
loss of the companion whom she had so dearly loved. Delicate management,
gently yet resolutely applied, held the faithful little creature
in check, when she tried to discover the cause of her governess's
banishment from the house. She made no more complaints; she asked no
more embarrassing questions--but it was miserably plain to everybody
about her that she failed to recover her spirits. She was willing to
learn her lessons (but not under another governess) when her mother was
able to attend to her: she played with her toys, and went out riding on
her pony. But the delightful gayety of other days was gone; the shrill
laughter that once rang through the house was heard no more. Kitty had
become a quiet child; and, worse still, a child who seemed to be easily
tired.

The doctor was consulted.

He was a man skilled in the sound medical practice that learns its
lessons without books--bedside practice. His opinion declared that the
child's vital power was seriously lowered. "Some cause is at work here,"
he said to the mother, "which I don't understand. Can you help me?" Mrs.
Linley helped him without hesitation. "My little daughter dearly loved
her governess; and her governess has been obliged to leave us.