"Yes, bye and bye," he returned hastily; "but her mother cannot spare the girl now; she is not well; her strength has flagged since Hatty's death, and Bessie is mother's crutch; but later on you shall have her; and indeed she looks pale, and in need of change, and I shall be thankful to let her go." And when he reached the home he told them all of Edna's invitation to Bessie, and how he had answered her. Mrs. Lambert looked wistfully at her daughter. "You would like to go, Bessie; it would do you good, and indeed I am growing stronger every day. I would spare you willingly." "No, mother, I am not going to leave you just now. Why, you have not been down yet to breakfast. When you are quite well and strong I will think of it." And Bessie looked tenderly at her mother's thin, faded face. Perhaps it was not quite so thin as it was, not so pinched and anxious, but there was plenty of room for improvement; and though Mrs. Lambert sighed, she could not conscientiously own that she was well. But when she was alone with her husband, she spoke to him about Bessie's looks. "She is not like the same girl," she said sadly. "She feels darling Hatty's loss more than the others. What does it matter about me, Herbert? A mother must think of her children before herself." "Perhaps so," he replied rather dryly, "but it is my duty to think first of you, my dear Dora. We both love our children, and would willingly do our best for them. I am not blind to Bessie's looks; but she is really strong, and her health will not suffer." "No; but the change will do her good," she pleaded. "I do not doubt it, and I wish you were strong enough to spare her; but Bessie is young enough to wait a little. It is we who are growing old, my dear, and who need to be comforted quickly; the young have their life before them." But though the doctor expressed himself after this stoical fashion, he was very tender in his manner to Bessie, and though he would not have avowed it to his wife, he watched the girl narrowly, and often took her for drives, or contrived errands for her at the other end of the town. Nay, more, he became extravagant, and brought home books for her and Christine, bidding them improve their minds, and Bessie found herself the possessor of several nice books, not wholly instructive--for "Lorna Doone," and Miss Austen's "Emma," and "A Sister's Story," by Mrs. Craven, were among them.