I found these late visits were a great boon to her, and seemed to break the length of the long winter night, and so I did not regret my added trouble.

Poor Phoebe had to be content with an hour snatched from the busier portion of the day; but she was beginning to occupy herself now.

I kept her constantly supplied with books; and Miss Locke assured me that she read them with avidity; her poor famished mind, deprived for so many years of its natural aliment, fastened almost greedily on the nourishment provided for it.

From the moment I induced her to open a book her appetite for reading returned, and she occupied herself in this manner for hours.
She never spoke to her sister about what she read, but when Kitty and she were alone she would keep the child entranced for an hour together by the stories she told her out of Miss Garston's books.
'Sometimes Kitty sings to her, and sometimes they have a rare talk,' Miss Locke would say.

'I am often too busy to do more than look in for five minutes or so, to see how they are getting on.