with pertinacity to the superstitions which she
had been taught in childhood, and especially
delighted to believe that the marriage of a
priest was a sacrilegious thing, and that,
therefore, little Kitty was nothing but a
fore-doomed child of Satan.

CHAPTER V.

FRANK was just nine years old, and in the
middle of the veritable history of Pyramus
and Thisbe, which he read with Mr. Birkby
and duly performed with Kitty, when Lady
Irwin again became a mother, the mother of
a son of singular promise and beauty. Her
heart swelled with joyful pride, but it seemed
as if happiness for her was never to be without
alloy. A conversation which she overheard
between the nurse and Agnese completely
damped her pleasure, and awakened
discontented thoughts in her bosom.

They were speaking of the child, admiring
his beauty, and commenting on the joy of his
parents.

"Ah!" cried the old nurse, "Sir Edward's
well pleased enough now ; but, Lord love ye,
if you'd seen the fuss there was when Master
Frank was born—he worn't nothing to compare
to this here lamb, but then he was the
heir—Lord, the ringing of bells and the driving
up of carriages ! I made nigh twenty
pound at the christening—and all the village
was invited to dine ; there was an ox roasted
whole and, as to the ale, it was quite a sin
to see it flowing about everywhere like
water."

Nothing could exceed the tenderness of
Sir Edward ; he could not have shown more
joy at the birth of his eldest son ; the
inquiries were numerous, the christening
splendid ; but the old nurse's words rankled
in Lady Irwin's heart. She still loved Frank,
but she could not at all times bear to see him
caress his half-brother, though, if he showed
the least indifference, she tortured herself by
thinking how much the child's fate depended
on his affection. As soon as the baby began
to take notice, he showed a very decided
affection for Frank; there was only one person
whom he preferred, and that person was
Kitty Birkby.

With all her passionate affection, Lady
Irwin wanted the art to accommodate
herself to the weaknesses of a little child ;
she could not talk the fond nonsense which
the ordinary mother makes the vehicle of her
tenderness, and by which she wakes the
dimples in her infant's cheek. Kitty, on the
other hand, was distinguished by an extraordinary
power of sympathy ; she seemed to
know intuitively what was wanted of her,
and with happy and unconscious grace to
meet the requirement. She loved all children,
so it was very natural that she should feel
special delight in the beautiful child who
crowed and clapped his little hands at her
appearance.

In spite of her dissatisfaction that her son
was not his father's heir, Lady Irwin was
made much happier by his birth : the boy
was all her own—he had her fitful eyes, her
square brow, the shape of his mouth was like
hers, with a shadow of his father's smile ; and
before long it became evident that he
inherited her temper. He was wilful and
impatient, he never let his mother fret
herself for want of excitement ; it was never
possible to tell in what mood the young autocrat
might choose to show himself ; he was
like a mountain-girdled lake, now laughing to
the summer sun, now lashing its crested
billows into fury. Kitty Birkby was the
only person whose influence with him never
failed : his mother might waste her strength
in the attempt to storm him down ; she never
gained her point ; he would scream till she
was terrified for his health, but he would not
yield; yet Kitty, without violence, by some
subtle charm in her touch or in her voice,
brought back the smiles in five minutes, and
won him to obedience.

For two years longer Frank Irwin pursued
his studies at home, under the direction of
Mr. Birkby ; he was then sent to Rugby, at
that time under the wise government of
Dr. Arnold. His departure caused Kitty
great sorrow, but it made little interruption
in her visits to the hall ; for Edward, as the
boy was named from his father, was growing
fast, and became daily more imperious in his
demands upon her time. It was not in the
nature of things, that Lady Irwin should not
feel some touch of tenderness to the sweet
child to whom she owed so much ; perhaps
she regretted that she could not love her,
and strove by the lavish profusion of her
gifts to atone for the want of real affection.
In one respect only did the little
girl and the woman sympathise. Lady
Irwin possessed a musical genius of a high
order ; her knowledge of the art was profound,
and the harp or piano under her hand
produced thrilling or stirring harmonies, the
transcript of her state of feeling ; she was a
poet of sound, and the pulsations of her
passionate temperament thus found immediate
and ample expression.

Now, Kitty Birkby early evinced great
taste for music ; her voice was peculiarly
clear and sweet ; she owed much to the careful
instruction of Lady Irwin, who was pleased
to have a pupil so docile and so apt in her
favourite science. In other respects, Kitty's
education was not systematised ; her aunt
taught her needlework and what she knew of
French ; while her father instructed her in
arithmetic, and formed her taste in literature.
His eyes failing him he was often glad to use
her younger sight, and thus she learned to
read with expression and without fatigue,
while she imbibed a fund of general
knowledge, which lay in her mind like seed
destined to bring forth a rich harvest in
future years. And thus her childhood passed