she had ever experienced--mild, dull, and sloppy, the rain
falling by the hour, and fog blurring everything outside the house,
while added to this was the anxiety she felt for the invalid.

Christmas Day was the worst of the whole time; outside everything was
wet and dripping, and even indoors the air felt raw and chilly,
penetrating to the bones, and resulting in a continual state of shivers.
There was no bright Christmas service for Selina that morning: she must
remain at home and look after her charge, for, save the invalid, the
servants and herself, the house was empty.

But there was one glad moment for her--the arrival of the postman. He
was late, of course, but when he did come he brought her a budget of
letters and parcels that convinced her she was not forgotten by her
absent schoolgirl friends. With a hasty glance over them, she put them
on one side until after dinner, when, her patient having been seen to,
she would have a certain amount of time to herself.

But that one glance had been sufficient to bring a flush of pleasure to
her cheeks, and to invest the gloomy day with a happiness that before
was absent. She had recognised on one envelope an address in a bold,
firm writing, very different from the neat, schoolgirl caligraphy of the
rest; and when her hour of leisure arrived, and over a roaring fire she
was able to examine her presents and letters, this one big envelope was
reserved to the last.

[Sidenote: Romance]

Her fingers trembled as she opened the still damp covering, and saw a
large card with a raised satin medallion in the centre, on which were
printed two verses, the words of which caused the hot colour to remount
to her cheeks, and her heart to redouble its beats.

There was no mistaking the meaning of those lines; love breathed from
every letter, and, with a hasty look round to make sure she was alone,
the happy girl pressed the inanimate paper, satin, printer's ink, and
colours to her lips as though in answer to the message it contained.

The feeling of loneliness had vanished; there was some one who loved
her, to whom she was dearer than all others, and the world looked
different in consequence. It was a happy Christmas Day to her after all,
in spite of her depressing surroundings; and Miss Clayton noticed the
change in her young nurse, and in the evening, when thanking her for all
she had done for her, hoped she had not found it "so very dull."

That night Selina Martyn, foolish i