"Oh, my dear, don't say that! If you had not me you would still have your best friend to go to for help and counsel. I may fail you, but God never will. And don't you think we might ask Him to protect poor Gerald from evil, and to show him how wrong it is to be so untruthful? If you can't help the poor misguided boy, we know Jesus can." Gilbert made no reply; but he looked up at his mother with the tender smile which she loved to see, and she was satisfied that Gerald would be remembered in his prayers. No one realized better than Mrs. Willis how much of Gilbert's temper was the result of a peculiarly sensitive disposition; and that he held himself aloof from boys of his own age simply from fear of ridicule. He had always protested that he took little interest in other people, but that had been a pretence, as his mother had imagined; and she was certain now that had been the case, for he was as anxious to save Gerald Willis from the toils of evil companions as though he was his own brother, and would have done a great deal to serve him for his own sake, as well as for the sake of his relations. Mrs. Mickle had a very tender, sympathetic heart, and she could not dismiss Gerald and the suspicions Gilbert entertained about him from her thoughts. If Gilbert's suspicions were correct, surely it was some one's place to open Mr. Willis' eyes to the state of affairs. Was it her place? She could not make up her mind. In her perplexity she consulted her husband, but he seemed unable to advise her, and pointed out that she had no direct charge to bring against Reginald Hope. Mrs. Mickle had almost decided not to interfere in the matter when the remembrance that the Willis children were motherless caused her to reflect again, and she finally made up her mind that she would call at Haresdown House, and let circumstances guide her as to whether she should broach the subject of Gerald's undesirable acquaintance or not. "God will show me what to do, and if I must speak, He will teach me what to say," she thought; "I will leave the matter in His hands." And having come to that determination she felt more satisfied. CHAPTER XVII At Myrtle Villa "COME in! Oh, do, pray, come in! Oh, surely you were not going to pass my house without calling?" The speaker was Miss Goodwin, who had waylaid Mrs. Mickle outside Myrtle Villa, on her way to Haresdown House. The old lady was so persistent in her request that she would "come in and have a chat" that Mrs. Mickle complied, and followed her into the pretty, rose scented parlour, the window of which commanded a view of the high road beyond the sweetbriar hedge that marked the limits of Miss Goodwin's domain. "How nice it is to have you here!" Miss Goodwin cried, as she led her visitor to a comfortable chair, and seated herself close by. "You come to see me so seldom, and actually to-day you were going to pass without calling," she added in accents of playful reproach.