though the cheerful voice had been cordial in itself.

'Of course you have, now that you have something to look forward to;
and you will be in excellent hands; the very thing I wanted for you,
though I could not see how to manage it. I am going to dress. I
shall tell them to send in dinner; and if I am not down, I shall be
in the nursery. You won't come in to dinner, Leonard?'

'No, said Leonard, with a shudder.

'I shall send you in some gravy soup, that you may thank me for. Ave
never would order anything but boiled chickens for you, and forgets
that other people ever want to eat. There will be a chance of making
a housekeeper of her now.'

How selfish, thought Averil, to want to get rid of poor Leonard, that
I may attend to his dinners. Yet Henry had spoken in perfect good-
humour.

Henry came down with a little sister in each hand. They were his
especial darlings; and with a touch of fatherly fondness, he tried to
compensate to them for their sequestration from the drawing-room, the
consequence of Averil not having established her authority enough to
keep their spirits from growing too riotous for Leonard's weakness.
Indeed, their chatter was Henry's sole enlivenment, for Averil was
constantly making excursions to ask what her patient would eat, and
watch its success; and but for his pleasure in the little girls
popping about him, he would have had a meal as dull as it was
unsettled. As soon as the strawberries were eaten, he walked out
through the window with them clinging to him, and Averil returned to