nod, as if she saw and caught at some unexpected chance. A soft rustle
behind her made her look around, and, seeing Lucia, she bowed, half
turned, as if for another glance at the picture, and said, as if
involuntarily, "How beautiful it is! May I ask if it is an ancestor,
Miss Beaufort?"

"It is the likeness of my mother" was the reply, given with a softened
voice and eyes that looked up tenderly.

"Ah, I might have known, from the resemblance, but I scarcely saw you
last night. Excuse my freedom, but Lady Sydney treated me as a friend,
and I forget my position. Allow me."

As she spoke, Miss Muir stooped to return the handkerchief which had
fallen from Lucia's hand, and did so with a humble mien which touched
the other's heart; for, though a proud, it was also a very generous one.

"Thank you. Are you better, this morning?" she said, graciously. And
having received an affirmative reply, she added, as she walked on, "I
will show you to the breakfast room, as Bella is not here. It is a very
informal meal with us, for my aunt is never down and my cousins are very
irregular in their hours. You can always have yours when you like,
without waiting for us if you are an early riser."

Bella and Edward appeared before the others were seated, and Miss Muir
quietly ate her breakfast, feeling well satisfied with her hour's
work. Ned recounted her exploit with Hector, Bella delivered her
mother's thanks for the flowers, and Lucia more than once recalled,
with pardonable vanity, that the governess had compared her to her
lovely mother, expressing by a look as much admiration for the living