relief."

"And spare your brains not a little. Yes, I do trust to keeping it,
for Lady Temple is delightful; and as to the boys, I fancy it is only
taming they want. The danger is, as Miss Rachel told me, whether she
can bear the sight of the process. I imagine Miss Rachel herself has
tried it, and failed."

"Part amateur work," said Ermine, smiling. "It really is lucky you
had to turn governess, Ailie, or there would have been a talent
thrown away."

"Stay till I have tried," said Alison, who had, however, had
experience enough not to be much alarmed at the prospect. Order was
wont to come with her presence, and she hardly knew the aspect of
tumultuous idleness or insubordination to unenforced authority; for
her eye and voice in themselves brought cheerful discipline without
constraint, and upheld by few punishments, for the strong influence
took away the spirit of rebellion.

After her first morning's work she came home full of good auguries;
the boys had been very pleasant with her after the first ten minutes,
and Conrade had gained her heart by his attention to his mother.
He had, however, examined her minutely whether she had any connexion
with the army, and looked grave on her disavowal of any relationship
with soldiers; Hubert adding, "You see, Aunt Rachel is only a
civilian, and she hasn't any sense at all." And when Francis had
been reduced to the much disliked process of spelling unknown words,
he had muttered under his breath, "She was only a civilian." To
which she had rejoined that "At least she knew thus much, that the