ed to
him in private), and had succeeded to her authority at a time when his
health and spirits were in such a state as to make it doubly needful to
spare him. It was no wonder that she sometimes carried her consideration
beyond what was strictly right, and forgot that he was the real
authority, more especially as his impulsive nature sometimes carried him
away, and his sound judgment was not certain to come into play at
the first moment, so that it required some moral courage to excite
displeasure, so easy of manifestation; and of such courage there was,
perhaps, a deficiency in her character. Nor had she yet detected her own
satisfaction in being the first with every one in the family.

Ethel was put out, as Flora had discovered, and when she was downstairs
she found it out, and accused herself of having been cross to Margaret,
and unkind to Tom--of wishing to be a tell-tale. But still, though
displeased with herself, she was dissatisfied with Margaret; it might
be right, but it did not agree with her notions. She wanted to see every
one uncompromising, as girls of fifteen generally do; she had an intense
disgust and loathing of underhand ways, could not bear to think of
Tom's carrying them on, and going to a place of temptation with them
uncorrected; and she looked up to her father with the reverence and
enthusiasm of one like minded.

She was vexed on another score. Norman came home from Abbotstoke Grange
without having seen Miss Rivers, but with a fresh basket of choice
flowers, rapturous descriptions of Mr. Rivers's prints, and a present
of an engraving, in shading, such as to give the effect of a cast, of
a very fine head of Alexander. Nothing was to be thought of but a frame
for this--olive, bay, laurel, everything appropriate to the conqueror.
Margaret and Norman were engrossed in the subject, and, to Ethel, who
had no toleration for fancy work, who expected everything to be either
useful and intellectual, this seemed very frivolous. She heard her
father say how glad he was to see Norman interested and occupied, and
certainly, though it was only in leather leaves, it was better than
drooping and attending to nothing. She knew, too, that Margaret did it
for his sake, but, said Ethel to herself, "It was very odd that people
should find amusement in such things. Margaret always had a turn for
them, but it was very strange in Norman."

Then came the pang of finding out that this was aggravated by the
neglect of