"P.S.—I have told Mr. Kent about you, and he authorizes me to invite you here to spend the next vacation."
NEW RELATIONS.
Jasper remained till the next afternoon. His father urged him to stay longer, and his step-mother, with apparent cordiality, seconded the invitation; but Jasper felt that the charm of home was gone. The new wife had stepped in between his father and himself. He felt sure that the marriage had not been of his father's seeking. To him it was no object. To the former governess it was a matter of importance, since it secured her a permanent home and position, and a share of Mr. Kent's property.
There was an old servant in the family, a trusty maid, who had been in it before Jasper was born. With her he could speak confidentially.
"Tell me, Margaret," he asked, "how came my father to marry Miss Thorne?"
Margaret went to the door and looked out cautiously, then closed it.
"I don't want her to hear what I say," she commenced, when convinced that they were in no danger of listeners, "but it's my belief she asked your father to marry her."
"Do you really believe that, Margaret?"
"Yes, I do, Master Jasper. She's that bold she wouldn't mind it, not a bit. Only she'd do it sly-like. I know just how she'd do it. She'd tell him how she hadn't got a home, and must go out into the wide world, and get him to pity her. Then, you know, he'd got used to seeing her round, and a sick man don't like changes."