"Nansie," cried Mr. Loveday, as she paused, "something is troubling you."
"Yes," she answered, frankly; "I cannot tell you what it is--I do not think I ought."
"Where is Hester?"
"At home, alone. She will not go to bed until her father returns."
"But you, Nansie, are you not going back?"
"No; I have something to do that will keep me out late. That is what I wished to see Kingsley for--to explain it to him. Tell him I may not be home till the morning, and that Hester is waiting for him. He is not to worry himself; everything is right."
"There goes a true woman," said Dr. Perriera, looking after her, "upon an errand of mercy and goodness."
"Do you know what it is?" asked Mr. Loveday.
"No, nor can I guess, but I would stake my life that it is as I say, and that you believe as I do, notwithstanding that we are both in the dark."
"You are right," said Mr. Loveday. "Dr. Perriera, misfortune sometimes proves a blessing. It has been so to me. Had I been rich and prosperous, I doubt whether it would have been given to me to know the perfect sweetness and beauty to be found in common lives."