Thy destined course doth lie."
"Och! are ye all alone be yerself, asthore?" asked nurse, entering, "an' the big salt tears rowlin' down yer face. What was it vexed ye—tell yer own nurse?"
"Nothing, dear nurse. I was only thinking," returned Kate, drying her eyes, and endeavoring to smile; "is it time to dress?"
"Nearly, asthore!"
"I wonder Mr. Winter has not written; my last letter remains unanswered," observed Kate, after a silence of some minutes.
"Ye'll have one to-morrow, acushla," said Mrs. O'Toole, who was always ready to promise herself, and those she loved every possible good, in prospect. "An faith ye hav'nt ten minutes left to dress, an' all thim grand officers an' ladies to be here to-night; sure I'm as plaised as if I was made Lady Liftinant, to see ye among yer own sort again; not goin to thim shopkeepin gintry, at Bayswather, me heavy hatred to it. Thim Miss Merrydeaths, are mighty agreeable young ladies, I see thim walkin the other day, laughin like grigs they wor; what a quare name they have, sure it's no wondher they're wishin to change it."
"Are they?" asked Kate, smiling.
"To be sure they are, it's not natral for thim to be sich playful kittins at their time in life, but may be if they wer quite, they'd be mistakin for full grown cats."