speech, 'and my labours recommence. And though the day is longer, there
is more to do in it, you see.'

'I don't wonder at your being a stay-at-home, for, to my eyes, it is the
prettiest spot of earth in all the world; and if you find it half as hard
to leave it as I do, your staying here is quite accounted for.'

This little speech, also, Rachel understood quite well, though she went
on as if she did not.

'And this little garden costs, I assure you, a great deal of wise
thought. In sowing my annuals I have so much to forecast and arrange;
suitability of climate, for we have sun and shade here, succession of
bloom and contrast of colour, and ever so many other important things.'

'I can quite imagine it, though it did not strike me before,' he said,
looking on her with a smile of pleasant and peculiar interest, which
somehow gave a reality to this playful talk. 'It is quite true; and I
should not have thought of it--it is very pretty,' and he laughed a
gentle little laugh, glancing over the tiny garden.

'But, after all, there is no picture of flowers, or still life, or even
of landscape, that will interest long. You must be very solitary here at
times--that is, you must have a great deal more resource than I, or,
indeed, almost anyone I know, or this solitude must at times be
oppressive. I hope so, at least, for that would force you to appear among
us sometimes.'

'No, I am not lonely--that is, not lonelier than is good for me. I have
such a treasure of an old nurse--poor old Tamar--who tells me stories,