134 TRUE RICHES; OR,

 

feet have strayed! And now,” he added, more
calmly, “we will look at the present difficulty stea-
dily, and seek to know the right.”

“The right way,” said Edith, after she had to
some extent repressed the glad pulses that leaped
to her husband’s loving words, “is not always the
way in which we most desire to walk. Thorns,
sometimes, are at its entrance. But it grows plea-
santer afterward.”’

“Tf we can find the right way, Edith, we will walk
in it because it is the right way.”

‘‘ And we will surely find it if we seek in this
spirit,” returned the wife.

‘What, then, had we best do ?”’ asked Claire, his
thought turning earnestly to the subject under con-
sideration.

‘What will be best for Fanny? That should be
our first consideration,” said his wife. ‘‘ Will it be
best for her to remain with us, or to go into Mr.
Jasper’s family ?”

“That is certainly a grave question,” returned
Claire, seriously, “‘and must be viewed in many
aspects. Mr. Jasper’s place in the world is far dif-
ferent from mine. He is a wealthy, merchant; I
am a poor clerk. If she goes into Ms family, she
will have advantages not to be found with us—ad-
vantages of education, society, and position in life.
To keep her with us will debar her from all these.
Taking this view of the case, Edith, I don’t know
that we have any right to keep her longer, particu-
larly as Mr. Jasper has signified to us, distinctly,
his wish, as her guardian, to take her into his own
family, and superintend her education.”

>