"Our uncle John is dead," said he.
Both the sisters seemed struck: not shocked or appalled: the tidings appeared in their eyes rather momentous than afflicting.
"Dead?" repeated Diana.
"Yes."
She riveted a searching gaze on her brother's face.
"And what then?" she demanded, in a low voice.
"What then, Die?" he replied, maintaining a marble immobility of feature. "What then? Why—nothing. Read."
He threw the letter into her lap. She glanced over it, and handed it to Mary. Mary perused it in silence, and returned it to her brother. All three looked at each other, and all three smiled—a dreary, pensive smile enough.
"Amen! We can yet live," said Diana, at last.
"At any rate, it makes us no worse off than we were before," remarked Mary.
"Only it forces rather strongly on the mind the picture of what might have been," said Mr. Rivers; "and contrasts it somewhat too vividly with what is"
He folded the letter, locked it in his desk, and again went out.
For some minutes no one spoke. Diana then turned to me.
"Jane, you will wonder at us and our mys-
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