approached the house with an awe akin to that with which an old poetic Egyptian drew near to the chamber of the goddess Isis. He entered, and his Isis was laughing merrily. In the morning, great sun-crested clouds with dark sides hung overhead; and while they sat at breakfast, one of those glorious showers, each of whose great drops carries a sun-spark in its heart, fell on the walks with a tumult of gentle noises, and on the grass almost as silently as if it had been another mossy cloud. The leaves of the ivy hanging over the windows quivered and shook, each for itself, beneath the drops; and between the drops, one of which would have beaten him to the earth, wound and darted in safety a great humble bee. Kate and Alec went to the open window and looked out on the rainy world, breathing the odours released from the grass and the ground. Alec turned from the window to Kate's face, and saw upon it a keen, yet solemn delight. But as he gazed, he saw a cloud come over it. The arched upper lip dropped sadly upon the other, and she looked troubled and cold. Instinctively he glanced out again for the cause. The rain had become thick and small, and a light opposing wind disordered its descent with broken and crossing lines. This change from a summer to a winter rain had altered Kate's mood, and her face was now, as always, a reflex of the face of nature. "Shut the window, please Alec," she said, with a shiver. "We'll have a fire directly," said Alec. "No, no," returned Kate, trying to smile. "Just fetch me a shawl from the closet in my room." Alec had not been in his own room since Kate came. He entered it with a kind of gentle awe, and stood just within the door, gazing as if rebuked. From a pair of tiny shoes under the dressing-table, radiated a whole roomful of feminity. He was almost afraid to go further, and would not have dared to look in the mirror. In three days her mere presence had made the room marvellous. Recovering himself, he hastened to the cloaet, got the shawl, and went down the stair three steps at a time. "Couldn't you find it, Alec?" said Kate. "Oh! yes; I found it at once," answered Alec, blushing to the eyes. I wonder whether Kate guessed what made the boy blush. But it does not matter much now. She did look curiously at him for a moment. "Just help me with my shawl," she said. CHAPTER L.