The Highland monthly - National Library of Scotland

132
The Highland Monthly.
sensible man, marry." The children laughed, all but Lucy,
who gave me one of her queer wistful looks. Charlie, the
scamp, threw himself upon the seat in question with a
vehemence dangerous to that article of furniture, and
declared it would be "jolly" to have another aunt—he
had but one, his mother's sister, and he was down in her
bad books. I felt annoyed and— yes, I did blush. But
catching hold of Lucy I drew her to me partly to hide my
confusion, but chiefly because I loved her dearly, displaced
the scamp Charlie, placed her in the chair, and declared
she was to be my companion and housekeeper. That
was a part of my secret scheme. It was a vain fancy
of mine to think that she could be kept long on earth by
keeping her quiet and watching over her health more than
was done at home. Lucy thanked me with a look that I
shall never forget. But the boys noisily asserted that they
would not get on at home without Lucy. Even my sister-
in-law negatived the proposal. She was, however, open to
conviction, and altered her mind, when I showed her that
the town was warmer in winter than the country, and that
my dear friend Doctor —— would see her daily. My
sister-in-law felt the force of the argument, and yet she
started the objection that the girl would pine away from
the want of companions of her own age. I was prepared
for the objection, and told her that I also wanted the loan
of Tommy, promising that he would have good instruction
in the grammar school during the day, and the benefit of
instruction from myself at night. My brother and his
wife saw the advantage of the offer ; they were ambitious
of turning out of the family one scholar at least, and felt
inclined to accept the offer; indeed, they accepted it
already in their hearts, only my sister-in-law observed that
the boy would be certain to run wild, since I was so
forgetful of things going on around me that I would not see
his faults nor punish him. She believes in the virtue of the
rod, does my sister-in-law. Well then my whole secret Avas
revealed, and I felt relieved, for it weighed on me for weeks