very limited number of teachers could find
occupation, and he besides doubted whether she would find the duties of
an instructress suited to her taste.

"I should not, I fear, find my powers equal to them," answered Clara,
humbly; "and yet I have a longing for some occupation in the service of
the Church. Such means as I possess, however, I would gladly devote to
the establishment of Saint Agatha's."

"Ah, my dear young lady, I rejoice to hear you say that," exclaimed Mr
Lerew. "Whatever you give, you give to the Church, remember, and she
has promised to repay you a hundredfold."

Mrs Lerew frequently called on Clara, as also did Lady Bygrave. Both
spoke enthusiastically of the holy and happy life of Sisters of Mercy,
and still more so of those nuns who gave themselves up to religious
meditation. Lady Bygrave, especially, warmly pressed the subject on
Clara's consideration.

"Were I young, I should certainly devote myself to a religious life; but
as I am married, my husband might raise objections," she remarked.

Clara thought and thought on all she heard, and became more and more
interested in the books her advisers put into her hands. She resolved,
however, to wait before deciding till she received a letter from Harry.
She could not easily give him up; and she hoped, when she should be his
wife, to win him over to support the cause of the Church, which she
persuaded herself would be as acceptable to Heaven as should she become
a nun.

While Clara had gone one day to return a visit from Lady Bygrave, Miss
Pemberton received and opened the postbag. It contained a letter for
Clara from India. She saw that it was from Harry. She turned it over
several times.

"I must obey my spiritual adviser," she said to herself; "it can do the
child no harm."

Replacing several other letters for Clara, she took this one up into her
own room. She had been instructed how carefully to open letters by the
vicar, for he had been at an English school, and having been taught in
his boyhood to consider breaking the seal of another person's letter a
disgraceful act, was glad to escape it. After a little time she
succeeded in reaching the enclosure. She glanced over the first
portion.

"A part of your letter, dearest one, though I delight in hearing from
you, gave me great pain. I had hoped and believed that you were better
grounded in the fundamental truths of the Gospel than to express
yourself as you have done. You sp