and get a night's rest while you can.'

'You won't stay up, papa.'

'I--why, it is all I can do not to fall asleep on my feet. Good
night, children.'

'He does not trust himself to think or to fear,' said Ethel. 'Too
much depends on him to let himself be unstrung.'

'But, Ethel, you will not leave, dear Aubrey.'

'I shall keep his door open and mine; but papa is right, and it will
not do to waste one's strength. In case I should not see you before
you go--'

'Oh, but, Ethel, I shall come back! Don't, pray don't tell me to
stay away. Richard will have to keep away for Daisy's sake, and you
can't do all alone--nurse Aubrey and attend to papa. Say that I may
come back.'

Well, Mary, I think you might,' said Ethel, after a moment's thought.
'If it were only Aubrey, I could manage for him; but I am more
anxious about papa.'

'You don't think he is going to have it?'

'Oh no, no,' said Ethel, 'he is what he calls himself, a seasoned
vessel; but he will be terribly overworked, and unhappy, and he must
not come home and find no one to talk to or to look cheerful. So,