‘Oh, indeed! then I dare say you know a great deal more about him than I do. The fact is, Tessie,’ I continued, longing to have the explanation over once and for ever, ‘Mr. Charteris was introduced to us, many years ago, by an old friend of my dear mother’s. He was hanging about town then, doing nothing, I fancy—any way, he used often to run down to Norwood to see us, as you have heard him say, and—and—we were rather intimate for a few months—that is, until his father sent him to travel on the Continent, since which I have heard nothing of him until we met to-day.’ ‘You knew none of his sisters or brothers, then—nor his parents?’ ‘I knew none of the family but himself. I think he used to speak to me of his sisters, but I forget how many there were.’ ‘He has only one sister now,’ said Ange, again. ‘I wonder if it is she who has the scarlet fever.’ ‘Most likely! Have you heard what profession he is in?’ ‘I do not think he has any,’ replied Tessie. ‘He seems to be a man of independent property! Did you hear him say that it made no difference to him if he bought a horse or hired one.’ ‘Yes; I suppose, then, he must have come into some money. He was not rich when we knew him. I remember that! He was to have read for the law, and my dear mother used to say—she said, I remember—I can recall her saying——’ But no! put it which way I would, that sentence utterly refused to come to the birth. I had harped, unwittingly, on a string too nearly connected with my dead hope, and the discovery broke me down. ‘Oh, mother! mother!’ I cried aloud, as I put my head in Tessie’s lap and sobbed without restraint. Of course they attributed it to the associations which the presence of their guest had recalled to my mind, and they were as tender and sympathetic with my distress as though they had been to blame for it. ‘I am so sorry we kept it a secret from you, dear Hilda,’ they exclaimed simultaneously; ‘it was such a silly thing to do: but we had not the slightest conception that you had met him before, and under such happier circumstances. Do forgive us, Hilda! You will make us so very miserable if we think we have made you so.’ I assured them solemnly, as I rose and dried my eyes, that the girlish trick they had played upon me had nothing to do with my present state of mind. I should have felt the rencontre just as much I said, and truly, had I been prepared for it weeks beforehand; and I only required a few hours by myself to subdue the unusual emotion which old memories had raised in me. My answer had just the effect I desired. ‘Do go to bed, then, dear Hilda,’ urged Tessie, ‘and sleep off the remembrance of this unhappy evening. I am sure you will like Mr. Charteris very much when you come to speak to him more freely, and perhaps, in a few days, you will congratulate yourself that you have met him again.’ How little I thought, as I dragged myself up to my room, that her surmise would prove true. [Illustration: [Fleuron]]