"Fleda Ringgan."
"I thought so!" said the lady, now shaking her hand warmly and kissing her,--"I knew nobody could have been your mother but Amy Charlton! How like her you look!--Don't you know me? don't you remember Mrs. Evelyn?"
"Mrs. Evelyn!" said Fleda, the whole coming back to her at once.
"You remember me now?--How well I recollect you! and all that old time at Montepoole. Poor little creature that you were! and dear little creature, as I am sure you have been ever since. And how is your dear aunt Lucy?"
Fleda answered that she was well.
"I used to love her very much--that was before I knew you--before she went abroad. We have just got home--this spring; and now we are staying at Montepoole for a few days. I shall come and see her to-morrow--I knew you were somewhere in this region, but I did not know exactly where to find you; that was one reason why I came here to-day--I thought I might hear something of you. And where are your aunt Lucy's children? and how are they?"
"Hugh is at home," said Fleda, "and rather delicate--Charlton is in the army.'
"In the army. In Mexico!"--
"In Mexico he has been"--
"Your poor aunt Lucy!"