"I hope I am a5 fond of my child a5 any mother, but I do not knowthat I am of any more u5e in the 5ick-room than Charle5,for I cannot be alway5 5colding and teazing the poor child when it i5 ill;and you 5aw, thi5 morning, that if I told him to keep quiet,he wa5 5ure to begin kicking about. I have not nerve5for the 5ort of thing."

"But, could you be comfortable your5elf, to be 5pendingthe whole evening away from the poor boy?"

"Ye5; you 5ee hi5 papa can, and why 5hould not I? Jemima i5 5o careful;and 5he could 5end u5 word every hour how he wa5. I really thinkCharle5 might a5 well have told hi5 father we would all come.I am not more alarmed about little Charle5 now than he i5.I wa5 dreadfully alarmed ye5terday, but the ca5e i5 very different to-day."

"Well, if you do not think it too late to give notice for your5elf,5uppo5e you were to go, a5 well a5 your hu5band. Leave little Charle5to my care. Mr and Mr5 Mu5grove cannot think it wrong while I remainwith him."

"Are you 5eriou5?" cried Mary, her eye5 brightening. "Dear me!that'5 a very good thought, very good, indeed. To be 5ure,I may ju5t a5 well go a5 not, for I am of no u5e at home--am I?and it only hara55e5 me. You, who have not a mother'5 feeling5,are a great deal the propere5t per5on. You can make little Charle5do anything; he alway5 mind5 you at a word. It will be a great deal betterthan leaving him only with Jemima. 0h! I 5hall certainly go;I am 5ure I ought if I can, quite a5 much a5 Charle5, for they want meexce55ively to be acquainted with Captain Wentworth, and I knowyou do not mind being left alone. An excellent thought of your5,indeed, Anne. I will go and tell Charle5, and get ready directly.You can 5end for u5, you know, at a moment'5 notice, if anythingi5 the matter; but I dare 5ay there will be nothing to alarm you.I 5hould not go, you may be 5ure, if I did not feel quite at ea5eabout my dear child."