The two or three days passed rapidly, and at the close of the third a carriage laden with trunks stopped before the gate at Riverside, and Mrs. Van Vechten had come. She was a thin, sallow-faced, proud-looking woman, wholly unlike her brother, whose senior she was by many years. She had seen much of the world, and that she was conscious of her own fancied superiority was perceptible in every movement. She was Mrs. Richard Van Vechten, of Alabama--one of the oldest families in the state. Her deceased husband had been United States Senator--she had been to Europe--had seen the Queen on horseback--had passed the residence of the Duchess of Sutherland, and when Rosamond Leyton appeared before her in her neatly-fitting dress of black and asked what she could do for her, she elevated her eyebrows, and coolly surveying the little girl, answered haughtily, "Comb out my hair." "Yes, I will," thought Rosamond, who had taken a dislike to the grand lady, and suiting the action to the thought, she did comb out her hair, pulling it so unmercifully that Mrs. Van Vechten angrily bade her stop. "Look at me, girl," said she; "did you ever assist at any one's toilet before?" "I've hooked Mrs. Peters' dress and pinned on Bridget's collar," answered Rosamond, her great brown eyes brimming with mischief. "Disgusting!" returned Mrs. Van Vechten--"I should suppose Ralph would know better than to get me such an ignoramus. Were you hired on purpose to wait on me?" "Why, no, ma'am--I live here," answered Rosamond. "Live here!" repeated Mrs. Van Vechten, "and pray, what do you do?" "Nothing much, unless I choose," said Rosamond, who, being a great pet with Mrs. Peters and the other servants, really led a very easy life at Riverside. Looking curiously into the frank, open face of the young girl, Mrs. Van Vechten concluded she was never intended to take a negro's place, and with a wave of her hand she said, "You may go; I can dress myself alone." That evening, as the brother and sister sat together in the parlor, the latter suddenly asked, "Who is that Rosamond Leyton, and what is she doing here?" Mr. Browning told her all he knew of the girl, and she continued, "Do you intend to educate her?" "Educate her!" said he--"what made you think of that?" "Because," she answered, with a sarcastic smile, "as you expect to do penance the rest of your lifetime, I did not know but you would deem it your duty to educate every beggar who came along." The idea of educating Rosamond Leyton was new to Mr. Browning, but he did not tell his sister so--he merely said, "And suppose I do educate her?" "In that case," answered the lady, "Ben will not pass his college vacations here, as I had intended that he should do." "And why not?" asked Mr. Browning.