rge the matter, and they sat
in silence for a time, feeling the soft beauty of the evening wrap them
round like a garment of rest.

"And what have you been doing all day, while I was in town?" asked Mr.
Montfort presently. "You were not too lonely, May Margaret?"

"Oh, no, not a bit too lonely; just enough to make it very good to have
one's Uncle John come back. Let me see! After you went, I fed Chiquito,
and stayed with him quite a while, talking and singing. He is so
pitiful, poor old fellow! Then I took a walk, and dropped in to see how
Mrs. Peyton was; she asked me to come in the morning, you know, when I
could."

"And how was she? Superb as ever?"

"Just, Uncle John! Her dressing-jacket was blue this time, and there was
a new kind of lace on her pillows."

"Oh! she has lace on her pillows, has she, my dear?"

"Didn't I tell you, uncle? Pillows and sheets are trimmed with real
lace, most magnificent. To-day it was Valenciennes, really lovely
Valenciennes, to match her cap and the frills on her jacket. And
turquoise buttons and cap-pins; oh, she was a vision of beauty, I assure
you. The pale pink roses on the table by her bed gave just the right
touch to accentuate--if that is what I mean--all the blue. She is an
artist in effects. She must have been very beautiful, Uncle John? She is
beautiful now, of course, only so worn and fragile."

"Yes, she was extremely beautiful, in her way," said Mr. Montfort; "and
she was always, as you say, an artist in effects. And in a good many
other things," he murmured, half under his breath. "She was glad to see
you, no doubt, my child?"

"Oh, yes; she is always most cordial and kind. She made me tell her just
how you were looking,--she always does that; and what you were doing."

"Emily Peyton is a singular woman," said Mr. Montfort, thoughtfully.
"She suffers, no doubt, and I am glad if you can be a comfort to her,
Margaret; but be a little careful, my dear; be a little careful with
Mrs. Peyton! H'm! ha! yes, my love! and what else did you say you had
done to amuse yourself?"

"Why, Uncle John, do you think I have to be amusing myself all day? What
a frivolous creature you must think me! I practised after I came home;
and then I had lunch, and then I arranged the flowers, and then I made
some buttonholes, and all the rest of the afternoon I sat under the big
tulip-tree, reading 'Henry Esmond.' So you see, I have really had the
most delightful day, Uncle John."

"Espe