"Come and say good night to Jack," she said, smiling, and thus encouraged Theodore advanced to the bedside.
"I must not let you talk to-night, because Jack is over-tired, and I want him to go to sleep quickly."
Jack raised himself in bed, and lifted his wan little face for Theodore to kiss. Theodore complied somewhat awkwardly, and with a muttered "good night" turned away. He watched Mrs. Barton as she tenderly embraced her son; and listened to her whispered: "God bless you, my darling." Then she joined him outside the door.
"Are you coming, Mary?" Theodore heard his father's voice call.
"Yes, in one minute," his wife responded.
She took Theodore's little brown hand and pressed it kindly.
"Good night, my dear," she whispered; then she stooped and impulsively imprinted a kiss on his forehead: "God bless you, too, Theodore."
[CHAPTER III.]
THEODORE'S GREAT-AUNTS.
NOT many hundred yards from the entrance to the grounds of Afton Hall, lying slightly back from the high road, with a grass plot surrounded by flower-beds in front, was a snug little house called The Nest.