The wound would not heal well, and she had had several feverish nights.

For her convenience, the couch had been drawn up between the fire and the table; and, reclining here, she every now and then threw out a petulant word in reply to her father's or Julian's well-meant cheerfulness.

But for the boy, the gloomy silence would seldom have been broken.

He, however, was full to-night of a favourite subject, and kept up a steady flow of bright narrative.

At school he was much engaged just now with the history of Rome, and it was his greatest delight to tell the listeners at home the glorious stories which were his latest acquisitions.