Still injudicious and unlike himself, Stephen answered, "Yes, I think I
shall enjoy it very much, and I think you will enjoy it more than I shall;
for you may see great deal of her. I have only seen her once, you know."

"I don't suppose she will care any thing about me," replied Mrs. White,
with an emphasis on the last personal pronoun which spoke volumes. "Very
few people do."

Stephen made no reply. It had just dawned on his consciousness that he had
been blundering frightfully, and his mind stood still for a moment, as a
man halts suddenly, when he finds himself in a totally wrong road. To turn
short about is not always the best way of getting off a wrong road, though
it may be the quickest way. Stephen turned short about, and exclaimed with
a forced laugh, "Well, mother, I don't suppose it will make any great
difference to you, if she doesn't. It is not a matter of any moment,
anyhow, whether we see any thing of either of them or not. I thought she
seemed a bright, cheery sort of body, that's all. Good-by," and he ran out
of the house.

Mrs. White lay for a long time with her eyes fixed on the wall. The
expression of her face was of mingled perplexity and displeasure. After a
time, these gave place to a more composed and defiant look. She had taken
her resolve, had marked out her line of conduct.

"I won't say another word to Stephen about her," she thought. "I'll just
watch and see how things go. Nothing can happen in this house without my
knowing it."

The mischief was done; but Mrs. White was very much mistaken in the last