"I think we might surely hit on some plan between us!" she said brightly. "Such a number of clever people! For instance, it ought not to be altogether impossible to provide another chaperone for the girls. There are more people than my important self in the town, and Mrs Newland will be quite willing to accept a representative under the circumstances." "If you mean me, Evelyn, I am not at all sure that I feel equal to the exertion. If they were going to drive from door to door, and have lunch in an hotel in reasonable fashion, it would be different; but with so many changes, and the whole day to be spent in the open air--" "Oh, my dear Sarah, I never thought of such a thing for a moment! It would be too much to ask. You would be terribly fatigued." Mrs Faucit had caught the echo of three separate gasps of consternation, and she spoke with unusual emphasis. "Oh, no, indeed! I think it will answer all purposes if Miss Turner takes the girls in charge. Mrs Newland knows her, and it would be a pity to look any further when we have someone so suitable in the house. That will be a very good arrangement, won't it, girls?" Then for the first time the girls' lips were opened, and they spoke. Up till now the tension of suspense had been so great that they seemed scarcely able to breathe. "Oh, yes, Mother, it will be delightful!" "Oh, yes, Mrs Faucit, splendid! Miss Turner will be nicer than anyone if you can't go yourself. But are you really obliged to go away? Why can't you stay at home when it is only for two days?" "My dear Mil! and allow Father to go by himself!" Bertha waxed quite mischievous in the relief of the moment. "You don't know what an absent-minded creature he is! If Mother were not there to look after him, he would go to meet the Archbishop without a hat on his head, or stand gloating over an old bookstall in the street, until he forgot all about his appointment. Mother has to be very careful not to let him out of her sight. She writes down all that he wants to say on a piece of paper, and leads him up to the very door of the room. Then she says: `Now, Austin, do you know whom you are going to see?' Father stares blankly, and says: `Er--er--I really er--.' And then she says very slowly and distinctly: `You--are--going--to--see--the--Archbishop! You--want--to--see--him--very--badly--indeed. Here is a list of the things you want to say!' Then she thrusts the paper into his hands, pushes him inside the door, and shuts it firmly behind him. It's quite true! I know, because I have been with them."