al musician, and I had worked hard for him. To me it was a
delight, but I never thought nor cared that it could give pleasure to
any one else. I used to shut myself up for hours in the holidays, out of
hearing of my godmother, who seldom left her room, and play, and play,
till my arms ached.

"I remember well the day he came for me. I was ready, waiting, when the
maid brought me the message that Sir Tone Wolsten was in the
drawing-room. He was standing on the hearth-rug talking to Miss
McDougall, and looked so tall to me. He is over six feet. I can see him
now as he stood there, erect, broad-shouldered, with bright chestnut
hair, clear, keen, dark blue eyes, and bronzed skin, a strong, kind,
fearless face. He looked a thorough man, one to be trusted. He greeted
me very kindly as his little sister, and took me home with him. Goldmead
Park was the loveliest place I had ever seen. His Aunt Evangeline, whom
I also called 'aunt,' was a frail, querulous old lady, whom he treated
as his mother. He did not marry till after her death, five years later.
I was planted in entirely new surroundings, with everything pleasant
about me, everything that I could desire, or ought to have desired. Your
uncle was kindness itself. He taught me to ride and to drive, supplied
me with books, took the greatest interest in me; but the restrictions of
every well-ordered home which would have been nothing to a properly
trained girl were unendurable to me. I resisted from sheer perverseness
and dislike of control. I do not mean to say that I was always
ill-tempered; I was lively and merry enough, and your uncle used to
tease me, and jest with me, which I enjoyed very much, and responded to
willingly.

"Some weeks had passed like this, my step-brother being most kind and
indulgent. Frequently Aunt Evangeline had asked me to play to them in
the evening after dinner, but I had refused obstinately. I liked to play
to myself, but I had never been accustomed to do so before any one, and
it never entered my head that it could give them pleasure, or that I was
bound to do it out of politeness. At last she became more irritable and
frequently made sarcastic remarks about the young people of the present
day. This happened again one evening, and I answered sharply, not to say
rudely.

"The next morning I wandered through the woods belonging to the park,
gathering violets, and had sat down, hot and tired, under a lovely
chestnut, with my lap full of flowers