“Yes, dear child; but we must not allow your father to exert himself to that end; we did not come to be entertained, but to try to be of use to him.”

“It was very kind,” said Evelyn, gratefully; “it must have been quite a sacrifice, for you to leave that beautiful Nantucket so soon after arriving there; I know about it, because we were there two summers ago, and I could hardly bear to come away.”

“It is very pleasant there, but so it is here also,” responded Elsie.

Evelyn looked much pleased.  “I am glad you like it, Aunt Elsie,” she said. “I think it the dearest spot on earth; but then it has always been my home.”

“You are justly partial to it, Evelyn,” Elsie said, “for it is a sweet spot.”

“Thank you.  Our dinner will be ready in about an hour from now; but don’t take the trouble to dress, there will be no one but ourselves,” Evelyn said, retiring.

Elsie was not sorry to learn that her sister-in-law was absent from home; for though neither really disliked the other, they were not congenial; their opinions, their tastes, their views of life, its pleasures and its duties, were so widely different that they could have but little in common.

A proud, self-important woman would have taken offence at the lack of hospitality and consideration shown her in the failure of the mistress of the house to be present with a welcome on her arrival, but such was not Elsie’s character.  She had but a humble opinion of her own importance and her own deserts, so very readily excused and overlooked the neglect.

But his wife’s conduct was very mortifying to Eric, as he showed in his apology for her, on Elsie’s rejoining him and Lester on the porch.

Elsie accepted his excuses very sweetly, assuring him that she expected to find much enjoyment in his society, her husband’s, and Evelyn’s, and would have been very sorry had Laura returned home for her sake before her visit to Newport was completed.

Evelyn, too, felt much chagrin on account of the lack of courtesy and hospitality in her mother’s behavior toward these relatives, esteemed by herself and her father as worthy of all honor.  She made no remark about it to either of them, but tried very earnestly to fill her mother’s place as hostess during her absence.

She was a very womanly little girl, with a quaint, old-fashioned manner which Elsie thought quite charming.  It was touching to see the devoted affection with which she hovered over and waited upon her sick father.  She was seldom absent from his side for more than a few minutes at a time, except when he sent her out for air and exercise.

Elsie usually accompanied her on her walks and drives, while Lester remained with his brother.

Eric seized these opportunities to open his heart to Lester in regard to the future of his only and beloved child, his one great anxiety in the prospect of death.