‘Well, it cannot be helped, Tessie; and, after all, Ange is making a great fuss about a very little thing. She merely heard Madame say that Mr. Lovett had borrowed a five-pound note of his boarder.’ ‘Five pounds,Tessie; one hundred and twenty-five francs!’ said Ange, with open eyes of horror; ‘and how will he ever pay it back again, so poor as we are?’ ‘Oh! leave papa to find out the ways and means, darling,’ replied Tessie, cheerfully; ‘it is no concern of ours, you know, and he would not like, perhaps, to think that we knew about his private concerns.’ ‘That is just what I have been telling her, Tessie; but Ange is such a little goose, she seems to think five pounds a perfect fortune. Gentlemen constantly accommodate each other in such trifles. Mr. Charteris is sure to have his money back in a day or two, and, for my part, I think we have wasted too much time already in discussing the business.’ So I said, in my desire to reassure them both, but Ange still continued to look up in her sister’s face with wide, imploring eyes. ‘Tessie, how can he pay him back? I heard papa tell the _facteur_ this morning that he must wait till to-morrow for the money for the unpaid letter.’ ‘That was because he had no change,’ I interposed quickly. ‘Tessie, how will he ever be able to pay back five pounds?’ continued Ange, without heeding my interruption; ‘there are so many things to buy each day, and Madame killed our best pair of pigeons this morning because she had no money to go to market with.’ ‘Oh, Ange! you do not understand such things. You have had no experience. People may have very little money to-day and plenty to-morrow. It _comes in_, you know. The richest are sometimes out of pocket for a few days, aren’t they, Hilda?’ ‘Of course,’ I answered stoutly. ‘I dare say the Duke of Westminster has to borrow sometimes. The more we have, the more we spend. How very much amused Mr. Charteris would be if he could hear the debate we are holding over his stupid bank-note. By the way, is he home from shooting yet, Tessie?’ ‘I don’t know; I have not seen him,’ she replied, as she gently put her sister from her, and, walking up to the mirror, removed her hat and arranged her tumbled hair. Ange stood where she had left her for a few seconds motionless, and then, with a deep sigh, walked out of the room. ‘Oh, Hilda! how could you let her hear it?’ exclaimed Tessie, as soon as she was gone. ‘How could I help it, rather? If you will gag Madame Marmoret, or reduce her brazen clarion of a voice to whispering music, I may be able to avoid such things, but not before.’ ‘How impudent of her to shout in that way across the yard, and why does dear papa provoke her tongue by infringing on her premises? Why doesn’t he keep out of her way?’ ‘Don’t ask me. Why does everything in this world go by contraries? The best thing we can do now is to try and make Ange forget what she overheard as soon as possible.’