"If he could tell me what course to take, knowing all, he would say I was doing right; right to take any honest work whereby I might earn my bread. Right to undertake only what I am qualified to do." "Well, then, darling, say nursery governess." "Sarah, I have looked the papers through for weeks, and I have read plenty of advertisements of ladies offering to take such places for nothing but a home. They do not always get them, for the advertisements are repeated again and again. Now, I cannot go for nothing, for I need clothes, and I have not much money. But plenty of people offer good wages for nurses, so I will go as a nurse, if any one will have me. My clothes will do for a servant, though they are not nearly so good as yours, Sarah." The girl glanced down at her poor, coarse black gown and burst into tears. It had been bought only as a makeshift, in the small country town near her old home, and her uncle had said, "Your aunt will see that you are properly provided as soon as we reach The Chase. She would not care for Welton dressmaking or materials." But this first purchase proved the only one. When Mr. Evans said that Joyce would need other and better dresses, he was answered promptly enough. "Joyce will not be expected to dress like my daughters. Remember, I have already had double expenses, owing to Mr. Minces' death having taken place just after I had bought everything in coloured dresses for the season. So if your niece wants finery, it will not come out of my pocket." As to Adelaide and Augusta, they were far too eager for admiration to be sorry that their young cousin should appear at a disadvantage, even in the matter of dress material. In appearance, accomplishments—in fact, in all that could attract attention—they considered her immeasurably below them. Thus Joyce was shut out of society, by lack of suitable clothing, when she had little inclination for it, and when, during her first days of sorrow, she cared only for quiet and sympathy. Of the former, she had enough as the months went by, and for the latter she had to go to Sarah Keene, as on the present occasion. "Your uncle would never agree to your taking such a place, Miss Joyce." "I shall be twenty-one in a month, Sarah, and my own mistress. I have money enough to take me to a good distance from The Chase, for I have not spent a penny that I could help. My uncle would have given me more, but I could not take it, since it would have really been out of Mrs. Evans' pocket. I have already advertised, and I have four answers. One seems likely to suit, but I shall need a character." The girl uttered the last word somewhat scornfully, but Sarah, with her usual good sense, replied— "Of course you will. What mother would trust her most precious jewels to a stranger without knowing anything about her? The nurse comes next to the mother herself with young children, and she cannot be too particular about the character of one."