are privileged to change our minds! What used papa to say whenever mamma gave way to second thoughts? Something about varium et mutabile semper.' I am sure the sentence did not apply to him, good man, for he invariably said the same thing whenever she changed her plans or opinions. For my part, I hate to say, or do, or see, or hear the same thing over and over again. I like variety. So the varium et mutabile for ever! Perhaps, by way of another change, I may take to liking some more of the Hastings family. Good-bye for the present! I am going out to sketch with Frederick.

"Thursday.-Positively these Hastings people have a witchcraft in them! Yesterday, after a long morning's sketching, Frederick and I were driving home, like Darby and Joan, in my pony phaton, when we met Harry and James Hastings, two fine little fellows of eight and six years of age. 'Lord Carleton! Lord Carleton!' shouted the eldest; 'papa wants to speak to you. He has been up to the castle, and now he has sent us to meet you and ask you to come to him on your way home.' 'Very well, Harry. Here! jump up on this side; and you, James, get up on that. You won't mind the child sitting at your feet, my dear, will you?' Of course I could not say I did mind it; and so we rode with the two children perched at the bottom of the carriage, all through the village to the gate of the Rectory. I was rather amused at this whim of Frederick's, and perhaps I smiled at the children more than I had done before. This emboldened little James, who is a sweet, fair-haired, open-browed child; and leaning his chin on my knee, he looked with a sort of shy curiosity up into my face. I returned his look, and patting his cheek, said, 'Well, what do you think of me?' 'I think you are a very pretty lady,' he replied softly. This made me laugh outright. The child put his hand confidingly into mine; when Frederick said, 'But, James, do you love people because they are pretty ?' Looking at me once more, he lisped out charmingly, 'Yeth, I love everybody that ith pretty.' I kissed the child. He looked

so innocent and unconscious that he was saying something so very natural that he ought not to say it.

"I was persuaded to stay with Frederick and dine that day with Mr. and Mrs. Hastings.

"In general I am no admirer of your ornamental cottages; I like a large, handsome, substantial house; but this Rectory is a charming old place. It seemed very small to me, but Mrs. Hastings says that it is by no means a small house of its kind; that it contains twelve good rooms besides kitchen and offices, which is very well, I suppose, for a country clergyman's house. Nothing can be in better taste than the rooms I have seen. There is enough of the useful, enough of the luxurious, and enough of the purely ornamental, and not a bit too much of anything. I had noticed the elegance and comfort which pervaded the drawing-room when I called at the Rectory before; but its beauty struck me more than ever after dinner, when Mrs. Hastings and I left the gentlemen. The glass-doors leading into the garden were thrown open, the setting sun illumined every object in the room-chintz-covered easy-chairs, the very epitome of comfort and cleanliness, stood invitingly in the most desirable places-the pianoforte was open and strewed with music; books and needlework were on the tables; statuettes and flowers in vases adorned various parts of the room. A delicious perfume of roses and lilies was wafted in from the garden; the sound of children's voices and their careless laughter came thence, also, and the two boys and their little sister Sophia were seen sporting with a greyhound on the lawn.

"This is a sweet place, Mrs. Hastings!' I exclaimed, in a tone of genuine admiration.

"You think so?' she said, turning to look at me.

66 6

"I do, indeed. You must not suppose that I am incapable of appreciating beauty and taste out of a large castle or a fine house in London.' And I took a seat beside her, and was determined to be at ease with her. 'I like your house, and your children, and your husband,' I continued, and if you have no objection, I am going to like you. You must give me a little

time first, because my husband has contracted the unfortunate habit of pointing you out as a model to me.'

666

Say no more,' she interrupted, with a hearty laugh. 'I see we shall be friends. I am very glad of this; because I had almost given you up as a hopeless, unmitigated fine lady. This made me very sorry, because we are so accustomed to consider Lord Carleton as one of ourselves, that we could ill bear the idea of not loving his wife. We look to Lady Carleton for help in our public duties, and for kindness and sympathy in our home circle. The lady of the castle is the most important personage for ten miles round next to the lord.'

"In a few minutes I found myself confiding all my little troubles to Mrs. Hastings. To be candid, though, I must confess that she appealed to my weak point by saying, 'We are equals in birth, Lady Carleton. You are a baronet's daughter, and so am I.' From that moment I respected her as my equal in rank, and I soon saw that she was my superior in everything else. A more elegant-looking woman, in spite of the simplicity of her dress, I have never seen.

*

*

"I asked Frederick to-day something about Mrs. Hastings. (She has been spending the morning with me, and helping me to order the baby-linen I shall want.) Who do you think she was? That daughter of Sir James Darlington, whose marriage he never forgave. I remember hearing about it when I was in the school-room. Don't you recollect the long talk you and I had with Miss Price about it? When we asked her if it was right to marry for love without the consent of parents, and the poor thing coloured so that we both felt sure that she had been in love herself at some remote period of her life. I worder what has become of her, by the way! She must be old now. She might be glad of a home. I am sure there are plenty of rooms in this great rambling place if she would like to come and live here. I should like to have her kind ugly face about me again; it would look like old times. Besides, I think she might be very useful in helping me to manage the servants; and Frederick is very anxious I should have some

person with me above the condition of a nurse.

to Mrs. Hastings about it.

I shall speak

I

“Tell mamma not to be uneasy about me next month. really can do very well without her-much better than I did before, in Rome.

I have become the boys are models of Frederick is happier

"Ir is a long time since I wrote to you, dear Bessy. In the interval how much has happened to me! happiest mother in the world. My two health and beauty, Mrs. Hastings says. than I ever expected to see him. Though they are twins, they are not very much alike, except in size; which nurse says is not common, one child being generally larger and every way handsomer than the other.

"Allow me to introduce your nephews. Francis, Viscount Merle (it seemed so funny to give a little helpless creature so grand a name!) is just a quarter of a hour older than his brother, Master Arundel Raby. He is a quieter and bettertempered child, too; but Arundel has such extraordinary dark blue eyes, and such a quantity of silky hair on his little head, that he is at present a wonderfully beautiful baby. I hope he won't grow up ugly. I have heard that pretty babies sometimes grow up ugly. However, Mrs. Hastings says that they much oftener grow up pretty.—I must leave off, now, for the children want me.-Oh, let me say 'thank you,' for hunting up dear old Miss Price. She is quite a treasure to us. Frederick says we must have been the stupidest girls in the world not to have seen that she was a very superior woman. He declares that he found it out the very first holidays he spent with us. You know she was always very kind to him"

More than a year after this date I find the following:

"DEAR BESSY,-I have been making myself useful. I dare say you doubt my ability to do anything of the kind; but it is true. I happened to be spending an evening with Mrs. Hastings about a month ago, when she was taken ill. We had been expecting her confinement for several days, therefore everything was ready. The nurse was in the house; and I sent off directly for the doctor and Mr. Hastings, who happened to be in the village. Before either of them arrived, Mrs. Hastings was safely delivered of a fine girl. I washed and dressed it, and was so unwilling to leave it and its dear mother that I got Frederick to let me stay for a week at the Rectory. My own boys were brought to see me every day by Miss Price. It was the funniest thing in the world to see the two sturdy little fellows looking at the baby. Frank was quite jealous, and did not like me to kiss it. Arundel, on the contrary, kept close to it, watching it open and shut its eyes, with the intensest curiosity; and whenever the little creature put out its soft pink fists, and struggled about-as if it were not satisfied with existence-Arundel would put his little brown hand over the little pink one, and smile in the little pink face, and utter his sweet cooing, 'Poor, poor!' as is his habit, when he loves or pities anything very much. I suppose my little Arundel will grow into a bon père de famille, and Frank into a baby-hater.

"Did I tell you that I had settled in my own mind that I would be godmother to Mrs. Hastings' little girl?—I had; and I sent to London for a magnificent gold mug, and goldmounted coral, and some beautiful lace robes, such as I should have for a girl of my own, and I had my own name wrought upon everything, as I intended the little thing to be called after me. I remember I ended your letter somewhat abruptly, that I might go and superintend the unpacking of a box from town containing these things. As I went to my room, I peeped into dear Miss Price's, and insisted on dragging her with me to see 'something I wanted her opinion about.'