“I cannot leave her to her mother’s care,” he said, with a sigh and a look of anguish.  “It is a sad, a humiliating thing to say in regard to one’s wife, but I have been sorely disappointed in my choice of a partner for life.

“We married for love, and she is very dear to me still, but our tastes and views are widely dissimilar.  She has no relish for the quiet pleasures of home, finds the duties of a wife and mother extremely irksome, and is not content unless living in a constant whirl of excitement, a never-ending round of pleasure-parties, balls, concerts, and other fashionable amusements.

“I cannot join her in it; and so, for years past, we have gone our separate ways.

“Evelyn, her mother having no time to bestow upon her, has been left almost entirely to me, and I have earnestly striven to train her up to a noble Christian womanhood; to cultivate her mind and heart, and give her a taste for far higher pleasures than those to be found in the giddy whirl of fashionable follies.

“I think I have already succeeded to some extent; but she is so young that, of course, much of the work yet remains to be done; and Laura is not the person to carry it on; also, I think, would not covet the task.

“Lester, if you will undertake her guardianship and receive her into your family, to be brought up under the influence of your lovely wife and mother-in-law, I shall die happy.  Would it be asking too much, my dear brother?”

“You could not ask too much of me, Eric,” Lester said with emotion; “and if my Elsie is willing, it shall be as you wish.”

Eric expressed his thanks, and his hope that Elsie would not object.

“My darling will not be a troublesome charge,” he said; “she has her faults, of course, but they are not of a kind to make her a disagreeable inmate of your family; and her admiration for her Aunt Elsie is so great that, doubtless, she will yield readily to her wishes and study to be like her in her loveliness of character and manners.”

“Yes; Evelyn is a child any father might be proud of,” assented Lester.  “Surely her mother cannot help being fond of her, and you would not separate them, Eric?”

Eric looked much disturbed.  For a moment he seemed lost in thought; then said, “I cannot tell just what Laura will do; she certainly must have some affection for our child, but not enough, I fear, to make her willing to resign any pleasure for her sake.  I think she will not care for a settled home when I am gone, but will spend her time in flitting about from one fashionable resort to another; and in that case Evelyn would be only a burden and care to her:  one she will probably be glad to get rid of.  I see plainly that it could be for neither your happiness nor Laura’s to attempt to live together; but perhaps you would be willing to receive her as a guest occasionally, and for a short time?”

“Certainly,” Lester said; “and to assist her pecuniarily, if necessary.”