her, and I did write so particularly to ask her for the autumn fashions, before I bought my new bonnet. But riches are a great snare.”

“Be thankful you are spared that temptation, my dear.”

“No, I’m not. Everybody likes to be tempted. And after all, it’s very easy to resist temptation, if one wishes.”

“I don’t find it so easy,” said her husband.

“Here’s medicine for you, mamma,” said Molly, entering with a letter held up in her hand. “A letter from Cynthia.”

“Oh, you dear little messenger of good news! There was one of the heathen deities in Mangnall’s Questions, whose office it was to bring news. The letter is dated from Calais. They’re coming home! She’s bought me a shawl and a bonnet! The dear creature! Always thinking of others before herself; good fortune cannot spoil her. They’ve a fortnight left of their holiday! Their house is not quite ready; they’re coming here. Oh, now, Mr. Gibson, we must have the new dinner-service at Watts’s I’ve set my heart on so long! ‘Home’ Cynthia calls this house. I’m sure it has been a home to her, poor darling! I doubt if there is another man in the world who would have treated his step-daughter like dear papa! And, Molly, you must have a new gown.”

“Come, come! Remember, I belong to the last generation,” said Mr. Gibson.

“And Cynthia won’t mind what I wear,” said Molly, bright with pleasure at the thought of seeing her again.

“No! but Walter will. He has such a quick eye for dress, and I think I rival papa; if he’s a good stepfather, I’m a good stepmother, and I could not bear to see my Molly shabby, and not looking her best. I must have a new gown, too. It won’t do to look as if we had nothing but the dresses which we wore at the wedding!”

But Molly stood out against the new gown for herself, and urged that, if Cynthia and Walter were to come to visit them often, they had better see them as they really were, in dress, habits, and appointments. When Mr. Gibson had left the room, Mrs. Gibson softly reproached Molly for her obstinacy.

“You might have allowed me to beg for a new gown for you, Molly, when you knew how much I admired that figured silk at Brown’s the other day. And now, of course, I can’t be so selfish as to get it for myself, and you to have nothing. You should learn to understand the wishes of other people. Still, on the whole, you are a dear, sweet girl, and I only wish—well, I know what I wish; only, dear papa does not like it to be talked about. And now cover me up close, and let me go to sleep, and dream about my dear Cynthia and my new shawl!”