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ings, she came to the conclusion that if she could mend matters at once, she could only do so by one means. She must tell Ella the truth, and throw herself upon her generosity. Ella loved her dearly; a sister could hardly love her better; and she was of a most constant, clinging, loyal, fervent nature. Would Ella tolerate the idea of her friend, her darling, her counsellor, going out into the unkind world alone? Would not her affection for once conquer pride?

Kitty was not well versed enough in the hearts of other women to feel sure on this point. She knew how generous men could be when they love; but was the same spirit of sacrifice to be expected of a woman towards her friend? It is true that they were dearer than most friends, and had loved to style each other sister;' their affection had been based on mutual esteem and admiration; their sympathies had drawn them nearer from day to day. Yet Kitty-who judged all women by herself-doubted.

The day on which Mrs Cornford's letter arrived was to be devoted to some acquaintances of Ella's, who were coming from Bourdeaux; and thus the critical hour was put off for the present. Kitty bestirred herself on behalf of Ella's guests, as usual, arranged the breakfast-table, planned a charming excursion for the afternoon, helped Françine to pack cups and saucers for the pic-nic tea, and showed no sign of the form of anxiety burning within till all her work was done. Then she dropped into a chair and sighed a weary little sigh, and put her hand to her heart. Ella was not present, but a little later in the day she noticed her friend's pale looks; and, though she dared not ask the reason of them, having received an unsatisfactory letter from her father by the same post that had brought Mrs Cornford's, and naturally supposing that Kitty had heard from England also, she contrived to manifest an extra solicitude. The party consisted of a widow lady and her four daughters— aristocratic, angular, amiable young ladies, who had doubtless been plump and pretty once, but were verging on the sere and yellow-nay, we will not be so impolite, the greenish-yellow leaf. It was a sad spectacle; for these young ladies had been

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brought up merely to be ornamental, and though they were now trying to take kindly to the more serious side of thingsto interest themselves in hospitals for the sick, scientific studies, and so on--one could see that this philanthropic and scientific alacrity was not spontaneous. And then, though their mamma was a baronet's widow, they were terribly poor; and if aristocratic poverty is not a harrowing thing, what is? Their clothes were flimsy, and threadbare to the last degree; their shoes would not have withstood the first autumnal shower; their umbrellas were more fitted to keep their aristocratic heads cool than dry. It was a consoling thought that they were bound to the south, where people can go with the clothing that would suffice for statues, and take no harm.

"We intend to be so industrious in the Pyrenees," said the mother, glancing at the daughters. "Madeleine has become quite a botanist, and collects wherever she goes; Fanny paints in water-colours; Janet is the social economist of the family, and visits all the schools and orphanages by the way; and Constance and I are devoted to entomology. We found in Thun last summer the loveliest white snail you ever saw, as big as a mouse, and with the most knowing-looking horns." Indeed!" said Ella; "but I don't like snails at all. I could never call a snail lovely."

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"Wait till you have a hobby, dear Ella, before you make fun of us," cried Constance. "Hobbies are the greatest boons the gods have provided as a compensation for all the ills which flesh is heir to."

"As if Ella had no hobby," said Lady Gardiner ;-" who is without?"

"This is my hobby," answered Ella, laying her hand affectionately on Kitty's arm.

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"And what is Miss Silver's hobby?" asked one of the ladies. Kitty's hobby," said Ella, very quickly, "is to be good to everybody."

Kitty coloured a little.. Was there any satire in Ella's remark? She could hardly believe it, though it sounded more like satire than anything else; but then we know our own

hearts so much better than our best friends know them! Kitty and Ella were the very best friends. It was Set Fair on Ella's weather-glass when Kitty was by: it was Rain, Storm, and Much Rain when she was away. Kitty loved in a half humble, half lofty, protective fashion, that made her affection a staff for the gentle, sensitive, suffering Ella to lean on.

And yet how little did these two women read each other's thoughts! How far were they from knowing each other's hearts! On this particular day, for instance, they sat face to face in the same carriage, ate at the same table, called each other by the same sisterly names of endearment, whilst each had her own painful secret, and still more painful suspicion.

"How much does she guess?" Ella asked herself again and again.

"How much does she know?" was the thought uppermost in Kitty's mind.

And the ladies in the greenish-yellow leaf went into ladylike ecstacies over their several hobbies, and a merry tea was partaken of in the sweet-scented pine-forest, and the somewhat lengthy dinner came to an end, and at last Ella and Kitty found themselves alone.

CHAPTER XLIV.

WHAT KITTY SAID ON HER OWN BEHALF.

THE pine-scented air had never seemed half so sweet as it did that evening; soft breaths of flowers were blown from the garden; the twilight sky wore the colour of lovely opals from east to west, and when they faded, great stars shone about the purple heavens. Kitty looked at the stars and said to her own heart, "Oh! what has my miserable secret to do with a night like this?"

These small domestic tragedies, which seem such trifles to write of, how hard are they to bear!

We hear of nation warring against nation, of awful catastrophes involving the sacrifice of hundreds of fellow-creatures,

and set about our daily affairs as if nothing had happened; but if anything has come between us and the person we love best in the world, what are we good for till all is made smooth again? We could almost hide ourselves in some distant country, so heart-sore, heart-sick, wretched are we! These sweet human affections, the best gifts Heaven has provided, must inevitably seem embittered and perplexing to us now and then; and we can no more see the good in such bitterness and perplexity than children can see the good in things created with stings and fangs. But the good will doubtless be revealed one day.

It is easier to talk of painful matters at twilight, and as Ella rested on her sofa, and Kitty sat in her easy-chair opposite, she began in a low voice

"Ella, I have something to say to you that lies on my heart like a lump of lead. I must get rid of the lump whilst we are alone."

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'Yes, dear," Ella said, with plaintive resignation. She did not say, "Come close to me and say it, with your hand in mine," as Kitty had hoped, but hardly expected.

"I take great blame to myself that I did not speak out long ago when we were first thrown together; but I have always been such a coward where my affections are concerned; and I soon grew to care for you more than for all my other friends," Kitty went on very proudly and calmly; "and you were very fond of me,-were you not?"

"O Kitty! how can you speak as if it were a thing past and done. I shall always care for you more than for any other friend."

"I know that, and I knew it all along, and yet to speak out is to put a barrier of some sort between you and me. It is natural for people to like to be happy. I said I would be happy as long as I could, at any risk, and I have been as happy I suppose few people ever are. That will be something to

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remember."

Ella listened, trembling. What could she say? What could she do? She was beginning to suffer as much as Kitty. The

hardest thing of all was that they could not have out the story as children have out their quarrels, cheek to cheek and arms entwined, Ella was a child still where her affections were concerned, and she loved to be kissed and petted as children do ; Kitty had loved and petted her hitherto, but Kitty seemed getting farther away from her with every word. Poor Ella! "The difference between your rank and mine ought to have made me frank," Kitty went on, "but we met on grounds of equality, and when two women love each other as sisters, what do they think of rank? I never dreamed in those early days that our friendship would become in time so sweet and enduring a thing. I did not know you. I did not think that a day would come when I should wish to be your hired servant rather than nothing to you, and it has come now with a vengeance. I would rather be your hired servant, Ella, than reign supreme in a palace; yet I must go-and you cannot, you must not hold me back."

Ella listened and said not a word. She had never before realised how much Kitty was to her. She took in at a glance all the misery that the loss of such a friend would bring upon her; and yet she listened in silence.

"If I had acted fairly by you, when we first began to think of each other as dear friends, I should have made some such confession as the one I am going to make now, leaving you to act upon it as you think proper," Kitty said, and forthwith began her confession :-

"Well, I am a social gipsy; born of them, bred among them, made love to by them. We lived like vagabonds on the face of the earth, taking no care for the morrow; feasting one day, starving the next; but we broke no laws except those of custom and comfort. The men were honest, the women were good, and a universal tie of kindness and charity bound them together. It was a merry life that we led in this Bohemia of ours, Ella, and as free from care as the life of the birds in the woods. If one of us wanted a shilling, a coat, or a loaf of bvad, there were our neighbours, ready for us; and towards myself, the goodness was such as I should be wicked to forget.

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