"I have no patience with that class of people; my advice to you is to get rid of her as soon as you can." Mrs. St. James feels she has not all the confidence of Rea. She used to tell her everything, but since sister Jean's arrival, Rea never has any confidence to make, and Arial feels she is gradually being rivalled, and by a charity sister. It is all very bitter for Arial to believe.
Some days later, the cosy library at Mrs. St. James is bright with light, and warmth.
"Something to interest you, my dear," Mr. St. James says, passing his wife the evening paper. Very quietly Arial looks up from her book. She takes the paper, and a red, deep crimson spot burns on both her perfect cheeks as she reads. It has come to pass what she has been dreading.
"It is to be regretted by all who have known her worth of goodness, that mother St. Marguerite, the sympathetic Mother Superior of the Convent of St. Marguerite, is about to give up the position she has begun and succeeded with so famously. Her place will be supplied by one whom we all hope may prove herself as worthy of esteem as her valuable predecessor. The new Mother Superior is a lady who lately adorned the most brilliant and fashionable society circles—Miss Rea Severn."
CHAPTER XXI.
NED CRANE. THE ONE AND THE SAME.
"Stolen sweets are always sweeter,
Stolen kisses much completer;
Stolen look are nice in Chapels,
Stolen, stolen be your apples."
—Leigh Hunt.