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Rh Fortunately a dark cloud came to her assistance, and the fear of rain did more than all her entreaties—they took their seats, and Mrs. Beaumont's sullen silence gradually yielded to her daughter's influence—who would not be discouraged from conversation. She drew her mother's attention to the delight of her little Edith, to the loveliness of the country around; and at last Mrs. Beaumont passed her arm round her neck, and said "You are a dear girl, and that is the truth of it, Fanny." Tears swelled in the eyes of the affectionate child—those few kind words more than repaid her.

The shadows had lengthened around, and only a few of the further cottage windows on the hill retained the crimson radiance of the setting sun, when they arrived at Sarah Wilmot's. Fanny had induced her mother to get out before they came to the house. She had learned, while walking up one of the hills, from the man who drove them, that there was a path through the field which led to a back gate in the garden, at