"They do not come back till next week."
"I am sorry for it; I wished to ask one of the girls to stay with Miss Vernon, she will be all alone."
"How long do you remain in town?" asked Lord Effingham, carelessly.
"Until Friday; I cannot get off a dinner at Mrs. ——'s; and when I am in town, I may as well stay and hear Sir Robert Peel speak on the —— Bill; they say it will come before the House on Thursday night. But I am uneasy about leaving Kate."
"Well, Miss Vernon, if you are inconsolable for the want of my cousin's society, I will send an express to recall them."
"Oh, I do not mind in the least," said Kate, hastily, "that is, of course—"
"Do not finish, Miss Vernon; you have deeply wounded my feelings for those young ladies," returned Lord Effingham, smiling, then turning to Lady Desmond; "I shall probably see you at the House on Thursday evening; I should like to hear Sir Robert."
And after a few more remarks the party separated.
The next day was Wednesday; and Lady Desmond delayed her departure for the dinner party at Mrs. ——'s, as late as she prudently could, leaving Kate with evident reluctance, and even twice returning from the door to give her some parting injunction, and another last kiss. Kate felt in unusually good spirits; she was unspeakably grateful for her cousin's affection. And nurse had proved a true prophetess; for she had received a letter from Winter that morning, thanking her for accepting his gift, and giving her his address at a little frontier town, "where," he added, "if you write at once, I can receive a letter, but after that, you must wait till you hear from me." Mrs. Winter, he said, was beginning to get more reconciled to foreign ways. The little artist was evidently enjoying himself; and the kind, cordial, interested tone of her letter, short though it was, gave Kate a sensation of light-heartedness to which she had been long a stranger. She took a pleasant walk with nurse in Bushy Park, and made that worthy individual join her at tea.