sovereign for the tradesman to change. So far from not desiring a bill, she was very precise in examining hers; added it twice, to be sure it was correct, and counted her "change" three times.

"I must not forget the message from my mistress," said Susan, giving a paper to Mr. Simpson. "Mrs. Beecham wishes some things sent to the Lodge in the course of the afternoon, for her to choose from;- this is the list ;-and she begged me to ask if you could oblige her by sending change for a ten pound note."

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Oh, certainly!" said the tradesman; "I will look out the goods, and send my man with them directly."

Helen rather wondered that her mamma's message had not been entrusted to

her; but she soon guessed what was the truth-that it had only occurred to Mrs. Beecham to take this opportunity of sending it, while her daughter was putting on her bonnet and mantle.

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CHAPTER IV.

UNJUST SUSPICIONS.

Ir would seem as if Helen had expected to be quite free from care on leaving Mr. Simpson's shop; but, to her surprise, such was not the case. Not only was she thoughtful and abstracted during her walk home, but on arriving there, instead of showing her purchases, and speaking freely about them, she hurried to her room, and quite dreaded joining her mamma and aunt in the drawing-room. Now it so happened, that they were both very much annoyed at a circumstance that had just been discovered,

and were too much occupied by it to take notice of Helen's reserve; which, it need hardly be said, was the consequence of her guilty conscience. Though the words did not strike her at the moment, long afterwards Helen remembered that, as she passed the opened door of the drawing-rooom, Mrs. Travers said,

"The value I set on it was chiefly from old recollections.'

And Mrs. Beecham observed,

It is most distressing for such a thing to happen in a family."

Perhaps at another time Helen would have wondered what had happened that was thus distressing; but the weight she had on her own mind had already rendered her selfish. She did not once conjecture that the lost sovereign was

already missed. In due time Mr. Simpson's man brought the articles which had been ordered, and Mrs. Travers and her sister made their selection. In the evening Mrs. Beecham called her daughter to her, saying,

"I am not fond, my dear Helen, of encouraging idle curiosity; but I have a very sufficient reason for the question I am going to ask you. Did Susan make any purchases at Mr. Simpson's today?"

"Yes," replied Helen, "she bought some bonnet-ribbon."

"And did you observe," continued Mrs. Beecham, "with what coin she paid for it?"

"She gave a sovereign for Mr. Simpson to change."