Norah and Magdalen, watching anxiously, saw nothing but the change that passed over their father.

Miss Garth alone observed the effect which that change produced on the attentive mistress of the house.
It was not the effect which she, or any one, could have anticipated.
Mrs.Vanstone looked excited rather than alarmed.

A faint flush rose on her cheeks--her eyes brightened--she stirred the tea round and round in her cup in a restless, impatient manner which was not natural to her.
Magdalen, in her capacity of spoiled child, was, as usual, the first to break the silence.
"What _is_ the matter, papa ?" she asked.
"Nothing," said Mr.Vanstone, sharply, without looking up at her.
"I'm sure there must be something," persisted Magdalen.

"I'm sure there is bad news, papa, in that American letter." "There is nothing in the letter that concerns _you_," said Mr.Vanstone.
It was the first direct rebuff that Magdalen had ever received from her father.

She looked at him with an incredulous surprise, which would have been irresistibly absurd under less serious circumstances.
Nothing more was said.