The maiden aunt, Miss Opie, willingly received them. She had a mere
pittance, and lived in a boarding house; but, by joining their slender
purses, they took the cottage in which we find them.

Thus in extreme poverty was Bluebell reared until her seventeenth year,
though by personal privation Mrs. Leigh sent her to _the_ school _par
excellence_; attended by most of the girls in the city, whether their
parents were "in" or "out" of society. Bluebell having the _prestige_ of
an English father, own son of a baronet, and military into the bargain,
was considered in the former class, and included at an early age in the
gaieties of the winter.

A new friend, who had been particularly kind to her, was Mrs. Rolleston,
wife of the Colonel of a regiment quartered there, and to her Bluebell
repaired to make sorrowful excuses for the projected picnic, and also to
confide the scheme that possessed her mind of earning money as a musical
teacher or nursery governess.

Mrs. Rolleston felt half inclined to laugh at the unformed impulsive
child, who was such a pet in their household, but seemed far too babyish
and unmethodical to be recommended for any situation; yet remembering her
mother's straitened circumstances, and that the girl probably wanted some
pocket-money, she listened sympathetically, and promised to turn it over
in her mind.

Music she knew Bluebell thoroughly understood and excelled in. She had
for years received instruction gratis from the organist at the Cathedral,
who, originally attracted by her lovely voice singing in the choir, took
her up with enthusiasm, and taught her harmony and thorough bass. Thus,