Now that his mind was easy about Dora, the boy was inclined to rest, so Mrs. Vallance and Angel left him to himself, and ten minutes later he had forgotten all his troubles in a deep, dreamless sleep. It was hours before Angel slept that night. She lay awake listening to the thunder in the distance, for the storm was passing away, and watching the lightning as it occasionally illuminated her room, whilst her tender conscience reproached her that she had not told her father of Gerald's disobedience when he had first gone fishing in the clay pits, and Mrs. Mickle had acquainted her with the truth. By holding her peace when she ought to have spoken, she had allowed Gerald to disobey a second time, and thereby nearly brought about the loss of his own and another's precious life. Mrs. Mickle had warned her that she was wrong in shielding her brother from blame; but she had never fully understood till now the harm she had been unconsciously doing. She was greatly troubled at the thought of what her father would say when he returned home and found that his son was not to be trusted. How astonished and grieved he would be when he heard of that evening's work! And, kind and good as Mrs. Mickle had been in sending Dr. Hope to see Gerald that night, how she must blame the boy in her heart. Bitter tears bedewed Angel's pillow as she turned these matters over in her mind; she tossed restlessly and wearily about, and could not rest. The storm had died away altogether, and the first pale streaks of daybreak were appearing in the eastern sky before she at last fell into a troubled sleep. CHAPTER XXVI Gerald's Repentance GERALD, as Dr. Hope had predicted, was quite well in health on the following day, though exceedingly depressed and unhappy; but Dora had taken a severe chill, so that Mr. Willis and Mr. Bailey had returned before she was well again. They reached Haresdown House in the afternoon whilst the young folks were at school; and, consequently, they had heard the story of Gerald's disobedience and its consequences before Angel and Gerald came home. Mr. Willis' first words to his son were somewhat of an astonishment to both children, who had anticipated that he would be very angry and severe in his mode of punishment. Gerald had been dreading the meeting with his father for days; and Angel had been looking forward to it with little less perturbation. "I know all that has happened during my absence," Mr. Willis said gravely, as the guilty boy stood trembling before him. "We met Mr. Mickle as we came through the town, and he told us of your accident the other night. I promised him I would not punish you, for he believes the anxiety you have suffered on Dora's account to be sufficient punishment, and he begged me not to be harsh with you. I do not think I was ever that to either of my children. Perhaps I have erred in trusting you too far, but I am not likely to make that mistake again."