"I would take you with the greatest pleasure in life, Fanny; but what is to become of my horse?"
"Cousin Julia will hold him. Won't you, cousin?" asked the child, flying to her side.
"I hold him?" exclaimed Julia. "No, thank you, Fanny, I value my life too well; besides, child, I should be frightened."
"Miss Neville will, then, she is so fond of horses," cried Fanny, darting off to where her governess stood.
"A fruitless errand," muttered Charles, turning on his heels, "she has not a grain of courage. I wish she had."
But as if to shame him for this assertion, or to gratify his wish, when he looked up, there stood the governess.
"I shall be happy to hold your horse for you, Mr. Linchmore," she said, while Fanny clapped her hands and capered about with delight.
"You, Miss Neville!" he repeated incredulously. "Impossible!"
"And why not? he seems to stand very quietly. Is he inclined to be vicious?"
"Vicious! Far from it. But I am afraid--"
"I will hold him," interrupted Amy, decidedly, and without hesitation, "there is nothing to be afraid of."
"Charles thinks," said Julia, maliciously, "you have not the nerve for it."
"I see no occasion for any display of nerve," replied Amy, while, with little show of opposition on his part, she took the reins from his almost unwilling hand, and before he had well recovered from his surprise, he found himself on the ice with Fanny's hand fast locked in his.
And where was Frances all this time? Had she forgotten her determination--her newly-born hatred of Amy? Had she thought better of her secret machinations? No. Time only increased her dislike; more deeply rooted her jealousy, while molehills became mountains in her eyes.
Should she see herself supplanted by a governess, one so inferior to her in wealth and station, one whom _he_ had known but a few hours. A few hours? Was it possible so short a time could have overthrown the power she fancied she had held in his heart for years. Impossible! It could not be, and again that bitter cry arose in her heart, and she inwardly exclaimed:
But Frances drove back the bitter feelings at her heart, and met him as he advanced on the ice with smiles and pleasant words, as though she knew not what sorrow or unhappiness was; but Charles, although he answered her courteously enough, was absent, and often gave random replies, wide of the mark.