She felt a strange sense of comfort; she had hardly thought of him during the journey; once he had been all in all to her, but circumstances had divided them. He had been angry with her, and she had felt his anger very much. He had preached duty to her until she was sick of the word and hated the subject. She had rejected his advice. Now he was here, and he approved of her, so things would not be quite so bad. His love was worth that of a hundred schoolgirls. "Oh, yes, yes," she whispered back, and he saw the pent-up emotion in her at once. "Marcia, come upstairs," said Nesta. "I want to see you. You needn't go to Mummy yet. She said you weren't to be worried. Mummy is too delighted for anything. We have put a new dressing gown on her, and she looks so smart, and we've tidied up the room." "Of course," said Ethel, "we've, tidied up the room." "We have," said Molly, "and we've put a white coverlet over the bed, and Mummy looks ever so pleased. She says you'll read to her for hours and hours." "Of course you will, Marcia," said Nesta. "It does so tire my throat when I read aloud for a long time." "And mine!" said Molly. "And mine!" said Ethel. "You know Ethel and Molly are out now," said Nesta. "They're asked a good deal to tea parties and dances." "Yes, we are," said Molly; "we're going to a dance to-morrow night." "Yes, yes!" said Ethel, skipping about. "I want to show you our dresses." "They made them themselves," said Nesta. "We did; we did, wasn't it clever of us?" said the other two, speaking almost in a breath. "They're awfully fashionable looking," went on Nesta--"the dresses I mean." Molly giggled in her commonplace way. Ethel did not giggle, but she laughed. Nesta squeezed Marcia's arm. "You dear darling, what a tower of strength you are," she said. "We thought of course you wouldn't come." "We thought you'd be much too selfish," said Molly. "Yes, we did truly," said Ethel. "We were certain you wouldn't do it," said Nesta. "We said: `She'll have to give up, and why should she give up?' That's what we said; but Horace said you'd do it, if it was put to you strongly." "Put to me strongly?" said Marcia. "Oh, girls, I have had a long, tiring journey, and my head aches. Is this my room? Would you think me frightfully unkind if I asked you for a jug of hot water, and to let me be alone for ten minutes?" "Oh dear, dear, but don't you want us three in the room with you? We have such a lot to tell you." "Darlings, you shall come in afterwards. I just want ten minutes to rest and to be quiet." "Girls, come downstairs at once," said Horace from below. The girls hurried off, glancing behind them, nodding to Marcia, kissing their hands to her, giggling, bubbling over with irrepressible mirth. Oh, it did not matter to them; their prison doors were open wide. "So," thought Marcia, "they are going to put it all on me in the future, even Horace. Oh, how can I bear it?" CHAPTER TWO.