the back of her head. With her own faint sweet smile she welcomed her
sister-in-law and inquired kindly for her health; and then she turned to
Hetty, who stood gazing steadily in her face, utterly unconscious of her
own look of anxious inquiry.

Mrs. Rushton had taken pains to make the most of Hetty's uncommon beauty
on this occasion, determined to take her friends by surprise and force
them into an acknowledgment of the superiority of her own taste in
adopting such a child. Hetty was dressed in a dark crimson velvet frock,
trimmed with rich old yellow lace, which enhanced the warmth and
richness of her complexion, and gave a reflected glow to her dark and
deep-fringed eyes. A crop of crisp short curls of a dusky chestnut
colour was discovered when her hat was removed. No ungenerous prejudice
prevented Mrs. Enderby from acknowledging at the first glance that Hetty
had a most charming countenance.

"And this is Hetty! how she has grown!" said Mrs. Enderby, taking the
child's little hand between her own and looking at her in a friendly
manner. With a swift pain, however, Hetty remarked that she did not kiss
her; but she was not aware that Mrs. Enderby, though a kind, was not a
demonstrative woman, and that kisses were rarely bestowed by her on
anyone. If Hetty had put up her little face for a caress, Mrs. Enderby
would have been very well pleased to lay her own cool cheek against the
child's scarlet lips; but Hetty's was one of those natures that desire
tokens of love and are yet too proud to seek for them. She flushed to
her hair, therefore, with mortification as Mrs. Enderby dropped her hand
and turned away once more to her sister-in-law.

"How tired you are! you look quite faint. Allow me to take your bonnet;
and do lie down on this couch while I make you a cup of tea. Hetty must