rrow at noon, and
that she would send you back again between six and seven. Her daughter
was most anxious to see you, she said."

Janetta lifted up a happy face. "I knew that Margaret would be true to
me. I never doubted her."

Mr. Colwyn watched her silently for a moment, then he put his hand upon
her head, and began smoothing the thick black locks. "You have a very
faithful nature, my Janet," he said, tenderly, "and I am afraid that it
will suffer a great many shocks in this work-a-day world of ours. Don't
let it lead you astray, my child. Remember there is a point at which
faithfulness may degenerate into sheer obstinacy."

"I don't think it will ever do so with me."

"Well, perhaps not, for you have a clear head on those young shoulders
of yours. But you must be careful."

"And I may go to Lady Caroline's, father?"

"Yes, my dear, you may. And now I must go: my time is up. I have had a
very pleasant hour, my Janet."

As she raised herself to receive her father's kiss, she felt a glow of
pleasure at his words. It was not often that he spoke so warmly. He was
a man of little speech on ordinary occasions: only when he was alone
with his best-loved daughter, Janetta, did he ever break forth into
expressions of affection. His second marriage had been in some respects
a failure; and it did not seem as if he regarded his younger children
with anything approaching the tenderness which he bestowed upon Janetta.
Good-humored tolerance was all that he gave to them: a deep and almost
passionate love had descended from her mother to Janetta.

He went out to fetch his wife home from her supper-party; and Janetta
hastened up to her room, not being anxious to meet her stepmother on her
return, in the state of rampant vanity and over-excitement to which an
assembly of her friends usually brought her. It could not be said that
Mrs. Colwyn actually drank too much wine or beer or whisky; and yet
there was often a sensation abroad that she had taken just a little more
than she could bear; and her stepdaughter was sensitively aware of the
fact. From Nora's slighting tone when she had lately spoken of her
mother, Janetta conjectured that the sad truth of Mrs. Colwyn's danger
had dawned upon the girl's mind also, and it certainly accounted for
some new lines in Mr. Colwyn's face, and for some additional streaks of
white in his silvering hair. Not a word had been said on the subject
amongst the members of the family, but Janetta ha