It had rained all yesterday; it had been raining all the morning to-day, but it was fair now; nay, the sun was sending out long burnished shafts from the broken gray and blue of the sky.

She was possessed by an unreasoning longing to get out of the house into the open air--anywhere, no matter where, beyond the reach of Mrs.Alwynn's voice.

She had been fairly patient with her for many months, but during these two last wet days, a sense of sudden miserable irritation would seize her on the slightest provocation, which filled her with remorse and compunction, but into which she would relapse at a moment's notice.

Every morning since her arrival, nine months ago, had Mrs.Alwynn returned from her house-keeping with the same cheerful bustle, the same piece of information: "Well, Ruth, I've ordered dinner, my dear.

First one duty, and then another." Why had that innocent and not unfamiliar phrase become so intolerable when she heard it again this morning?
And when Mrs.Alwynn wound up the musical-box, and the "Buffalo Girls" tinkled on the ear to relieve the monotony of a wet morning, why should Ruth have struggled wildly for a moment with a sudden inclination to laugh and cry at the same time, which resulted in two large tears falling unexpectedly, to her surprise and shame, upon her book.
She shut the book, and recovering herself with an effort, listened patiently to Mrs.Alwynn's remarks until, early in the afternoon, the sky cleared.