poor Fred is gone to a better--Ah! well, I see
you can't bear to speak of him, and perhaps after all quiet is the best
thing. Don't let your mamma think of dressing and coming down, my dear."

There was a little combat on this point, but it ended in Mrs. Frederick
Langford yielding, and agreeing to remain upstairs. Grandmamma would
have waited to propose to her each of the dishes that were to appear
at table, and hear which she thought would suit her taste; but very
fortunately, as Henrietta thought, a bell rang at that moment, which she
pronounced to be "the half-hour bell," and she hastened away, telling
her granddaughter that dinner would be ready at half-past five, and
calling the maid outside the door to giver her full directions where to
procure anything that her mistress might want.

"Dear grandmamma! just like herself!" said Mrs. Frederick Langford. "But
Henrietta, my dear," she added with some alarm, "make haste and dress:
you must never be too late in this house!"

Henrietta was not much accustomed to dress to a moment, and she was too
anxious about her mamma to make speed with her whole will, and her hair
was in no state of forwardness when the dinner-bell rang, causing her
mamma to start and hasten her with an eager, almost alarmed manner. "You
don't know how your grandmamma dislikes being kept waiting," said she.

At last she was ready, and running down, found all the rest assembled,
evidently waiting for her. Frederick, looking anxious, met her at the
door to receive her assurances that their mother was better; the rest
inquired, and her apologies were cut short by grandmamma calling them
to eat her turkey before it grew cold. The spirits of all the party were
perhaps damped by Mrs. Frederick Langford's absence and its cause, for
the dinner was not a very lively one, nor the conversation very amusing
to Henrietta and Frederick, as it was chiefly on the news of the country
neighbourhood, in which Uncle Geoffrey showed much interest.

As soon as she was released from the dining-room, Henrietta ran up to
her mamma, whom she found refreshed and composed. "But, O mamma, is
this a good thing for you?" said Henrietta, looking at the red case
containing her father's miniature, which had evidently been only just
closed on her entrance.

"The very best thing for me, dearest," was the answer, now given in her
own calm tones. "It does truly make me happier than anything else. No,
don't look doubtful, my Henriett