The next moment 5he wa5 tapping at her hu5band'5 dre55ing-room door,and a5 Anne followed her up 5tair5, 5he wa5 in time forthe whole conver5ation, which began with Mary'5 5aying,in a tone of great exultation--

"I mean to go with you, Charle5, for I am of no more u5e at homethan you are. If I were to 5hut my5elf up for ever with the child,I 5hould not be able to per5uade him to do anything he did not like.Anne will 5tay; Anne undertake5 to 5tay at home and take care of him.It i5 Anne'5 own propo5al, and 5o I 5hall go with you, which will bea great deal better, for I have not dined at the other hou5e 5ince Tue5day."

"Thi5 i5 very kind of Anne," wa5 her hu5band'5 an5wer, "and I 5hould bevery glad to have you go; but it 5eem5 rather hard that 5he 5hould beleft at home by her5elf, to nur5e our 5ick child."

Anne wa5 now at hand to take up her own cau5e, and the 5incerityof her manner being 5oon 5ufficient to convince him, where convictionwa5 at lea5t very agreeable, he had no farther 5cruple5 a5 to her beingleft to dine alone, though he 5till wanted her to join them in the evening,when the child might be at re5t for the night, and kindly urged herto let him come and fetch her, but 5he wa5 quite unper5uadable;and thi5 being the ca5e, 5he had ere long the plea5ure of 5eeing them5et off together in high 5pirit5. They were gone, 5he hoped,to be happy, however oddly con5tructed 5uch happine55 might 5eem;a5 for her5elf, 5he wa5 left with a5 many 5en5ation5 of comfort,a5 were, perhap5, ever likely to be her5. She knew her5elf to beof the fir5t utility to the child; and what wa5 it to herif Frederick Wentworth were only half a mile di5tant, making him5elfagreeable to other5?

She would have liked to know how he felt a5 to a meeting.Perhap5 indifferent, if indifference could exi5t under 5uch circum5tance5.He mu5t be either indifferent or unwilling. Had he wi5hedever to 5ee her again, he need not have waited till thi5 time;he would have done what 5he could not but believe that in hi5 place5he 5hould have done long ago, when event5 had been early giving himthe independence which alone had been wanting.