He was relieved to escape from the interview, and the poor old lady
remained a little more certain as to her duty perhaps, but with a
certainty that only made her more unhappy, and she was so restless
and nervous that, in the middle of the evening's reading of
Archbishop Trench's Lectures on History, Alice suddenly broke off in
the very middle of a sentence and exclaimed, 'Aunt Ursel! you are
keeping something from me.'

Miss Headworth made a faint attempt by saying something about
presently, and glancing with her eyes to indicate that it was to be
reserved till after Nuttie's bedtime, but the young lady comprehended
the signs and exclaimed, 'Never mind me, Aunt Ursel,--I know all
about mother; she told me last night.'

'It is!' broke in Mrs. Egremont, who had been watching her aunt's
face. 'You have heard of _him_.'

'Oh, my father! You really have!' cried Nuttie. 'Then he really was
on the desert island all this time; I was quite sure of it. How
delightful!' She jumped up and looked at the door, as if she
expected to see him appear that instant, clad in skins like Robinson
Crusoe, but her aunt's nervous agitation found vent in a sharp
reproof: 'Nuttie, hold your tongue, and don't be such a foolish
child, or I shall send you out of the room this instant!'

'But aunt?' gasped Alice, unable to bear the suspense.

'Yes, my poor dear child. Captain Egremont with the General got off
with some of the crew in a boat when the Ninon was burnt. He spent a
good many years abroad with the old man, but he has now inherited the