, were very humorous remarks. Jack did not hear many of them,
but the few he did hear must have upset him a little, for he tried to
explain himself by saying that he would jump into anything to save a
kitten, which from the look of Nina did not seem to satisfy her much.
In the end I don't believe she was as sorry for Jack to go as I was.
She could not stand being a family joke, and I, having suffered in that
way many times, could have sympathized with her if I had not thought
that it was much the best thing which could happen.

I felt dull after Jack went, for he was the sort of man who does
brighten up a place, and he was never by any chance bored; besides, I
was wondering how I could make Owen enjoy himself, because the only
thing I knew about him was that he did not care for any exercise except
walking, and I hoped that he would be reasonable about the distances he
wanted to go.

However, the day before he was to come, Miss Read arrived, which was an
idea of my mother's, and a very good one. Miss Read had been Nina's
governess for eight years, and she knew all of us better than we knew
ourselves. She was a kind of tonic when any of us were depressed, and
a cooling draught when we were angry; in my case she had seldom been a
tonic, but all the same when she had left us at Easter I was very
sorry. She was the only person I have ever seen of whom Nina was
really afraid. I am sure she could have told some funny tales if she
had felt inclined. She was supposed to be coming to see Nina, who was
going to Paris in a few weeks to be "finished," but I am sure that my
mother thought Owen would like her, and that she would like him. And
as it happened, they were both botanists and butterfly-catchers, at
least Miss Read knew a lot about butterflies, though her time for
catching them had gone by, and they were always doing things together.

Worcestershire must certainly be a better place than West Ham for a
botanist, and after Owen had got used to us I believe he enjoyed
himself. We worked together in the mornings, which pleased my father,
and he let my mother give him as much medicine as she wanted to, which
pleased her, and I feeling virtuous after reading every morning for
nearly four hours, was very pleased with myself. But he was in a
mortal terror of Nina, though she really never gave him any cause to
be, and made the most valiant efforts to learn the Latin names of
plants. Miss Read and he made excursions and gr