They were standing alone together in the little square hall; a lamp burned dimly in a recess; the candle flared between them in the summer draught; a grey moth brushed round them. Outside was the shadow of the dark sycamores. A little runlet of water trickled audibly in the silence. Garth's broad shoulders seemed to block up the tiny hall; he towered above Queenie's slim, girlish figure, looking down upon her with condescending dignity, but with the gleam of real kindness in his eyes. As he held out his hand his firm, warm pressure seemed reassuring. "That is all the more reason to leave it to me. We business men are used to deal with difficulties. Nothing hurts me; I am strong enough to bear any amount of responsibility." And Queenie went up-stairs comforted. Garth's assurance was not unnecessary. For some days nothing further passed between them on the subject of her project. Garth never alluded to it; and but for those few words Queenie might have felt uneasy. As it was she had some difficulty in keeping her restlessness down. It cost her an effort at times to appear unrestrained, and to join in the ordinary topics of conversation. "I try to do as he tells me, and put it out of my mind; but it is so hard when so much depends upon it," she would say to Cathy when they retired for the night. "I hope it is not wrong; but I have set my heart on carrying out this scheme. I get fonder of this place every day, and so does Emmie. I never was so happy in my life!" finished Queenie, with a little sob of excitement. "You dear old Queen! as though we ever meant to part with you! Have you really only been here a week? How I enjoy having you; and Langley says the same. Never mind Garth's silence, his few words mean more than a whole hour of talk from any other man. If he says he will do a thing you may safely trust him." "Yes; I know; but all the same, Mr. Logan may not think me suitable for such a post," persisted Queenie, disconsolately, "and then I shall be obliged to go back to Carlisle, and to part with Emmie. Oh, Cathy! it does seem so hard, when we should be content with so little;" and though Cathy helped her friend, and was very kind and sympathizing, there was no denying that the cause for suspense was a grave one. Queenie had only stated the truth when she had owned she had never been happier in her life. For the first time she had tasted the real comfort of a happy, well-regulated home. Queenie's own youth had never known freedom from the carking fret of a narrow income and incessant burden of debt. The remembrance of the petty meanness, the shiftlessness, the continuous fight with untoward circumstance, made retrospect bitter to her. She had grown up strong and sturdy, like some blooming Alpine plant which had taken root in a handful of earth on the edge of a crevasse; the sunshine might be all about her, but it had not gilded her one point of rock.