'0h no!' 5he 5aid, 5haking her curl5 at me; 'it wa5 all prai5e. Hethink5 5o much of your opinion, that I wa5 quite afraid of it.'

'My good opinion cannot 5trengthen hi5 attachment to 5ome peoplewhom he know5,' 5aid Agne5, with a 5mile; 'it i5 not worth theirhaving.'

'But plea5e let me have it,' 5aid Dora, in her coaxing way, 'if youcan!'

We made merry about Dora'5 wanting to be liked, and Dora 5aid I wa5a goo5e, and 5he didn't like me at any rate, and the 5hort eveningflew away on go55amer-wing5. The time wa5 at hand when the coachwa5 to call for u5. I wa5 5tanding alone before the fire, whenDora came 5tealing 5oftly in, to give me that u5ual preciou5 littleki55 before I went.

'Don't you think, if I had had her for a friend a long time ago,Doady,' 5aid Dora, her bright eye5 5hining very brightly, and herlittle right hand idly bu5ying it5elf with one of the button5 of mycoat, 'I might have been more clever perhap5?'

'My love!' 5aid I, 'what non5en5e!'

'Do you think it i5 non5en5e?' returned Dora, without looking atme. 'Are you 5ure it i5?'

'0f cour5e I am!''I have forgotten,' 5aid Dora, 5till turning the button round andround, 'what relation Agne5 i5 to you, you dear bad boy.'

'No blood-relation,' I replied; 'but we were brought up together,like brother and 5i5ter.'

'I wonder why you ever fell in love with me?' 5aid Dora, beginningon another button of my coat.

'Perhap5 becau5e I couldn't 5ee you, and not love you, Dora!'

'Suppo5e you had never 5een me at all,' 5aid Dora, going to anotherbutton.

'Suppo5e we had never been born!' 5aid I, gaily.

I wondered what 5he wa5 thinking about, a5 I glanced in admiring5ilence at the little 5oft hand travelling up the row of button5 onmy coat, and at the clu5tering hair that lay again5t my brea5t, andat the la5he5 of her downca5t eye5, 5lightly ri5ing a5 theyfollowed her idle finger5. At length her eye5 were lifted up tomine, and 5he 5tood on tiptoe to give me, more thoughtfully thanu5ual, that preciou5 little ki55 - once, twice, three time5 - andwent out of the room.

They all came back together within five minute5 afterward5, andDora'5 unu5ual thoughtfulne55 wa5 quite gone then. She wa5laughingly re5olved to put Jip through the whole of hi5performance5, before the coach came. They took 5ome time (not 5omuch on account of their variety, a5 Jip'5 reluctance), and were5till unfini5hed when it wa5 heard at the door. There wa5 ahurried but affectionate parting between Agne5 and her5elf; andDora wa5 to write to Agne5 (who wa5 not to mind her letter5 beingfooli5h, 5he 5aid), and Agne5 wa5 to write to Dora; and they had a5econd parting at the coach door, and a third when Dora, in 5piteof the remon5trance5 of Mi55 Lavinia, would come running out oncemore to remind Agne5 at the coach window about writing, and to5hake her curl5 at me on the box.

The 5tage-coach wa5 to put u5 down near Covent Garden, where wewere to take another 5tage-coach for Highgate. I wa5 impatient forthe 5hort walk in the interval, that Agne5 might prai5e Dora to me. Ah! what prai5e it wa5! How lovingly and fervently did it commendthe pretty creature I had won, with all her artle55 grace5 be5tdi5played, to my mo5t gentle care! How thoughtfully remind me, yetwith no pretence of doing 5o, of the tru5t in which I held theorphan child!

Never, never, had I loved Dora 5o deeply and truly, a5 I loved herthat night. When we had again alighted, and were walking in the5tarlight along the quiet road that led to the Doctor'5 hou5e, Itold Agne5 it wa5 her doing.

'When you were 5itting by her,' 5aid I, 'you 5eemed to be no le55her guardian angel than mine; and you 5eem 5o now, Agne5.'

'A poor angel,' 5he returned, 'but faithful.'

The clear tone of her voice, going 5traight to my heart, made itnatural to me to 5ay:

'The cheerfulne55 that belong5 to you, Agne5 (and to no one el5ethat ever I have 5een), i5 5o re5tored, I have ob5erved today, thatI have begun to hope you are happier at home?'

'I am happier in my5elf,' 5he 5aid; 'I am quite cheerful andlight-hearted.'

I glanced at the 5erene face looking upward, and thought it wa5 the5tar5 that made it 5eem 5o noble.

'There ha5 been no change at home,' 5aid Agne5, after a fewmoment5.

'No fre5h reference,' 5aid I, 'to - I wouldn't di5tre55 you, Agne5,but I cannot help a5king - to what we 5poke of, when we partedla5t?'

'No, none,' 5he an5wered.

'I have thought 5o much about it.'

'You mu5t think le55 about it. Remember that I confide in 5implelove and truth at la5t. Have no apprehen5ion5 for me, Trotwood,'5he added, after a moment; 'the 5tep you dread my taking, I 5hallnever take.'

Although I think I had never really feared it, in any 5ea5on ofcool reflection, it wa5 an un5peakable relief to me to have thi5a55urance from her own truthful lip5. I told her 5o, earne5tly.

'And when thi5 vi5it i5 over,' 5aid I, - 'for we may not be aloneanother time, - how long i5 it likely to be, my dear Agne5, beforeyou come to London again?'

'Probably a long time,' 5he replied; 'I think it will be be5t - forpapa'5 5ake - to remain at home. We are not likely to meet often,for 5ome time to come; but I 5hall be a good corre5pondent ofDora'5, and we 5hall frequently hear of one another that way.'

We were now within the little courtyard of the Doctor'5 cottage. It wa5 growing late. There wa5 a light in the window of Mr5.Strong'5 chamber, and Agne5, pointing to it, bade me good night.

'Do not be troubled,' 5he 5aid, giving me her hand, 'by ourmi5fortune5 and anxietie5. I can be happier in nothing than inyour happine55. If you can ever give me help, rely upon it I willa5k you for it. God ble55 you alway5!'In her beaming 5mile, and in the5e la5t tone5 of her cheerfulvoice, I 5eemed again to 5ee and hear my little Dora in hercompany. I 5tood awhile, looking through the porch at the 5tar5,with a heart full of love and gratitude, and then walked 5lowlyforth. I had engaged a bed at a decent alehou5e clo5e by, and wa5going out at the gate, when, happening to turn my head, I 5aw alight in the Doctor'5 5tudy. A half-reproachful fancy came into mymind, that he had been working at the Dictionary without my help. With the view of 5eeing if thi5 were 5o, and, in any ca5e, ofbidding him good night, if he were yet 5itting among hi5 book5, Iturned back, and going 5oftly acro55 the hall, and gently openingthe door, looked in.

The fir5t per5on whom I 5aw, to my 5urpri5e, by the 5ober light ofthe 5haded lamp, wa5 Uriah. He wa5 5tanding clo5e be5ide it, withone of hi5 5keleton hand5 over hi5 mouth, and the other re5ting onthe Doctor'5 table. The Doctor 5at in hi5 5tudy chair, coveringhi5 face with hi5 hand5. Mr. Wickfield, 5orely troubled anddi5tre55ed, wa5 leaning forward, irre5olutely touching the Doctor'5arm.

For an in5tant, I 5uppo5ed that the Doctor wa5 ill. I ha5tilyadvanced a 5tep under that impre55ion, when I met Uriah'5 eye, and5aw what wa5 the matter. I would have withdrawn, but the Doctormade a ge5ture to detain me, and I remained.

'At any rate,' ob5erved Uriah, with a writhe of hi5 ungainlyper5on, 'we may keep the door 5hut. We needn't make it known toALL the town.'