d have fallen short. Sweet as a
white rose; untroubled as the stars; full of hope as the flush of the
morning. Only, in the human creature there was the added element of
_life_, which in all these dead things was wanting. Mrs. Barker
probably thought of none of these images for her young mistress;
nevertheless, the truth that is in them came down upon her very heart;
and from that time she was Esther's devoted slave. There was no open
demonstration of feeling; but Esther's wishes were laws to her, and
Esther's welfare lay nearest her heart of all things in the world.

CHAPTER XX.

_SCHOOL_.

After much consideration the colonel had determined that Esther should
be a sort of half boarder at Miss Fairbairn's school; that is, she
should stay there from Monday morning to Saturday night. Esther
combated this determination as far as she dared.

'Papa, will not that make me a great deal more expense to you than I
need be?'

'Not much difference, my dear, as to that. If you came back every night
I should have to keep a horse; now that will not be necessary, and
Christopher will have more time to attend to other things.'

'But, papa, it will leave you all the week alone!'

'That must be, my child. I must be alone all the days, at any rate.'

'Papa, you will miss me at tea, and in the evenings.'

'I must bear that.'

It troubles me, papa.'

'And that you must bear. My dear, I do not grudge the price I pay. See
you only that I get what I pay for.'

'Yes, papa,' Esther said meekly. She could go no further.

Miss Fairbairn was a tall woman, but not imposing either in manner or
looks. Her face was sensible, with a mixture of the sweet and the
practical which was at least peculiar; and the same mixture was in her
manner. This was calm and gentle in the utmost degree; also cool and
self-possessed equally; and it gave Esther the impression of one who
always knew her own mind and was accustomed to make it the rule for all
around her. A long talk with this lady was the introduction to Esther's
school experience. It was a very varied talk; it roved over a great
many fields and took looks into others; it was not inquisitive or
prying, and yet Esther felt as if her interlocutor were probing her
through and through, and finding out all she knew and all she did not
know. In the latter category, it seemed to Esther, lay almost
everything she ought to have known. Perhaps Miss Fairbairn did not
think so; at any rate her f