bound now, little Janet, that thou art fond of sweetmeats?"

"Oh, yes, sir, if you please."

"By some strange accident I find here in my _soutane_ a tiny box of
bonbons. They might have been put there expressly for a little sweet
tooth of a Janet. Nothing could be more opportune. Take them, my child,
with Father Spiridion's blessing; and sometimes remember his name in thy
prayers."

I did not see Father Spiridion again before I was sent away to school,
but in after years our threads of life crossed and re-crossed each other
strangely, in a way that neither he nor I even dreamed of at that first
interview.

My life at Deepley Walls lengthened out from day to day, and in many
ways I was exceedingly happy. My chief happiness lay in the love of dear
Sister Agnes, with whom I spent at least one or two hours every day.
Then I was very fond of Major Strickland, who, I felt sure, liked me in
return--liked me for myself, and liked me still more, perhaps, for the
strange resemblance which he said I bore to some dear one whom he had
lost many years before. Of George Strickland, too, I was very fond, but
with a shy and diffident sort of liking. I held him as so superior to me
in every way that I could only worship him from a distance. The Major
fetched me over to Rose Cottage several times. Such events were for me
holidays in the true sense of the word. Another source of happiness
arose from the fact that I saw very little of Lady Chillington. The
indifference with which she had at first regarded me seemed to have
deepened into absolute dislike. I was forbidden to enter her apartments,
and I took care not to be seen by her when she was walking or riding