Mrs. Melcombe accepted the invitation, and he was very
sociable and pleasant; but she thought the governess (a very grand lady
indeed) took upon herself more than beseemed her, and smiled at her very
scornfully when she ventured to say sweet things to John Mortimer on her
own great love for children, and on the charms of his children in
particular.

Peter was excessively happy. His mother's happiness in the visit was
soon over. She shortly found out that an elderly Scotch lady, one Miss
Christie Grant, an aunt of the late Mrs. Daniel Mortimer, was to come in
a few days and pay a long visit, and she shrewdly suspected that the
attractive widower being afraid to remain alone in his own house, made
arrangements to have female visitors to protect him, and hence the
invitation to her. But she had to leave Peter at the end of the week,
and which of the two ladies when they parted hated the other most it
might be difficult to determine.

It cannot be said with truth that Peter regretted his mother's
departure. The quantity of mischief he was taught (of a not very heinous
description) by two sweet little imps of boys younger than himself, kept
him in a constant state of joyous excitement. His grandmother having now
been dead a year and a quarter, his mourning had been discarded, and his
mother had been very impressive in her cautions to him not to spoil his
new clothes, but before he had been staying with his young friends a
fortnight he was much damaged in his outer man, as indeed he was also in
his youthful heart, for the smallest of all the Mortimers--a lovely
little child about three years old--took entire possession of it; and
when he was not up a tree with the boys in a daring hunt after bergamy
pears, or wading barefoot in a shallow stream at the bottom of the
garden catching water-beetles, caddis-worms, and other small cattle for
a freshwater aquarium, he was generally carrying this child about the
garden pickaback, or otherwise obeying her little behests, and assuring
her of his unalterable love.

Poor little Peter! After staying fully six weeks with the Mortimers his
time came to be taken home again, and his mother, who spent two days
with them on her way northwards, bore him off to the railway,
accompanied by the host and most of his children. Then he suddenly began
to feel the full meaning of the misfortune that had fallen on him, and
he burst into wailings and tears. His tiny love had promised to marry
him when