"Why, how am I to stay with Aunt Herbert and George and Charles, and yet go with you and Mary?—One thing is certain, I cannot part with any of you."
"I have thought of this myself, Ellen, and I have a plan for the accomplishment of your wishes, if you can win your Aunt Herbert's consent to it."
"What is it?" exclaimed Ellen, eagerly.
"That she should remove to H., which was her own early home, and which offers much greater advantages for the education of her sons and their entrance into life, than their present situation."
"That would be delightful," said Ellen.
The day after this conversation, Mrs. Herbert was walking with Mr. Villars over to the Dairy Farm, as the residence of Farmer Smith was called. In passing the bridge she related to him the circumstances attending the fall and rescue of Charles—the great distress of Ellen, and the unremitting and successful efforts she had since made to overcome that evil nature which had so nearly produced such fatal consequences.
"Since that time," continued Mrs. Herbert, "though I have seen Ellen's temper tried, and her anger excited, I have only known that it was so by the sudden sparkle of the eye, or the quick flush of the cheek. She knows the danger of yielding for a moment, and you can see on such occasions that her whole nature is aroused to resist the evil, to subdue the passion. Of late these conflicts with herself are very rare, for she grows every day more gentle and forbearing. I cannot express to you, Mr. Villars, how dear she has become to me. To her cousins she is a patient, affectionate sister, to me a tender and devoted daughter; our home will long be darkened by her departure. How can I let her go from us—yet how can I ask you and her sister to give her up!"
Mrs. Herbert spoke with deep emotion, and Mr. Villars felt that there could not be a more fortunate moment for his proposal. When Mrs. Herbert first heard it, she shook her head, and looking around her said, "I cannot part with this place, Mr. Villars, it has too many endearing associations."
"If by parting with it you mean selling it, there is no necessity for your doing so; let Mr. Smith, whom you know to be an honest man, continue to farm it as he now does: you can even spend part or the whole of every summer here, for travelling costs little now. The board which, as the guardian of Mary and Ellen, I should feel bound to pay you, would meet any difference in the expense of your establishment here and in H——; and the advantages which your care would ensure to them, I would endeavor to repay to your boys in the direction of their education and the advancement of their objects in life."
And Mrs. Herbert consented, and Ellen's puzzle was solved.