She glanced up at Paulina's casement, and then at the window of the school-room, where she could see the little girl anxiously watching her. Then she thought how lonely and sad all the old haunts would seem, with none of the dear familiar faces—the once cheerful farm-house under the different rule of her aunt, who never allowed any one about her to be happy if she could help it; and she felt as if she had little to regret. "No, aunt, I cannot go!" she replied. "It would not be right, as you say, to expose you all to the fever, and besides I am needed here. Madam must needs be with Sir John, and Ashwell will have her hands full, besides that she will not follow the doctor's rules in anything. Then there is Betty, who will mind no one but me. No, I do not see well how I can go." "Mighty well!" grumbled her aunt, who, though inwardly relieved by Winifred's decision, was not disposed to let it pass without a proper amount of fault-finding. "Mighty fine, indeed! I suppose you learned all that out of your books that you are always poring over? To my mind, such fine notions are only fit for gentlefolks—though I suppose you think yourself a gentlewoman, as good as the best. Look out for yourself, that is my notion!" "But, aunt, the Bible—" "Oh, don't go talking to me about the Bible, Mrs. Winifred!" retorted the dame, not unwilling to work herself into a passion, that she might stifle certain unpleasant qualms of conscience. "The Bible is all well enough for Sundays and such like, and for sick people, maybe, but I never saw any good come of those folks who are always making a fuss about the Bible and religion. They were just the people who got up Monmouth's war, and made all that distress. If there is anything I do despise, it is a hypocrite. But your uncle says you are to have your own way, so I must e'en leave you to your own destruction!" added Dame Evans, in whose mind existed a great contention between her selfish fears and her real affection for her niece. "'Twill be worth a fortune to you if you do live through it, that is one thing, for the Corbets are generous people, and they will never forget it of you. I should not wonder if it should be the making of you. But then, if you should die!" "Then I shall go home, indeed!" said Winifred, with her sad smile. "And that will be better than going to Stonehill." "Mrs. Evans, here's Missy Polly a-calling for you!" called Jack. "Ah, the ugly ape! How any one can bear a blackamoor about them, I can't tell!" said Dame Evans, rising. "Well, good-bye, lovey! Take care of yourself!" And her heart getting for once the better of her fears, she threw both her arms round her niece, and kissed her, crying heartily. "Whatever happens, I will always say that you have been a good, dutiful girl—that you have! I will send by the 'prentice lad all your things, and as to the money you have earned—"