Valentine quite understood
upon reading them that she was not yet pardoned by Ronald Earle's
wife.
Time passed on without any great changes, until the year came
when Lady Earle thought her grandchildren should begin their
education. She was long in selecting one to whom she could
intrust them. At length she met with Mrs. Vyvian, the widow of
an officer who had died in India, a lady qualified in every way
for the task, accomplished, a good linguist, speaking French and
Italian as fluently as English--an accomplished musician, an
artist of no mean skill, and, what Lady Earl valued still more, a
woman of sterling principles and earnest religious feeling
It was not a light task that Mrs. Vyvian undertook. The children
had reached their fifth year, and for ten years she bound herself
by promise to remain with them night and day, to teach and train
them. It is true the reward promised was great. Lady Earle
settled a handsome annuity upon her. Mrs. Vyvian was not
dismayed by the lonely house, the complete isolation from all
society, or the homely appearance of the farmer and his wife.
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