"And then, with regard to the school at Richmond, you know Bernard purchased it, and arranged for it to be managed for him until he has finished his career at Oxford, after which he will take it in hand personally; and now he has determined that he will always give schooling and board to two pupils free of charge. They need not necessarily be orphans, but they are to be poor boys of gentle birth, who would otherwise be worsted in the battle of life. They are to receive exactly the same benefits as the other boys, and I am to provide them with clothes, and look after them as a mother might. I need not tell you how glad I am to do this. "Dear old Susan is coming to live with us and be our matron, much to her satisfaction. She is so glad that Bernard and I are married. You know we could not have her at the wedding, as Mrs. Cameron was not there--for it might have made the villagers at Moss talk if one had been present and not the other, and it would certainly have hurt Mrs. Cameron’s feelings. "Write to me, dear Alice, and let me know what you think of these schemes, which we have planned in this lovely Isle of Wight." Alice read the letter aloud to Norman, a little later, when, having left Switzerland, they were going up the Rhine in a river-steamer, one lovely day in autumn. She was glad of her friend’s happiness, and rejoiced in it so much that she could not keep the letter to herself. "Cameron seems a decent sort of fellow," said the artist, "after all." "Oh, yes, he is. Wasn’t it nice of him to buy Mrs. Austin’s little house in order that she might not be turned out of it, and then to give it to her when he became richer?" "Yes," said Norman, "I must say that Mrs. Austin deserves it for her goodness to Doris; though she never favoured me, but always endeavoured to make me feel that I was an intruder." "But she was very good to me," said Alice, softly. "Yes," said her brother, "and for that, too, she shall be forgiven everything by the poor artist, whom you fed when he was a surly, inconsiderate old bear." "I’m very proud of my Lion!" exclaimed Alice, lovingly. "See," she added, "I have brought out with us some London papers which arrived just as we were leaving our hotel. I want you to see what is said of your Academy pictures, especially of ’Ganymede.’ The likeness of the girl," she added, "is so marvellously like Doris, that I expect her husband will be wanting to buy it." "Don’t!" said Norman, walking a little way apart, in order that she might not see his face. Presently he returned to her without a shadow on his fine expressive countenance. "I hope you are observing the beauty of all this Rhine scenery," he said, with a smile. "It ought to appeal to the poetry in your nature." "Poetry! Poetry in my nature!" exclaimed Alice. "Why, Norman, I always thought that you considered me so _very_ prosaic and matter-of-fact."