She glanced about her mother's room interestedly and with a happier face. Here, at any rate, all was comfortable and orderly. The litter that lay about was the litter of books and papers, which was what Audrey liked. Perhaps things would not, after all, be as bad as at first they seemed. "I expect, dear, you would like to take off your hat and coat and have some tea. You must be tired and hungry." Mrs. Carlyle loosened her arm from round her daughter, but reluctantly. "Well," she said, looking after her as she left the room with Faith; "you have your father's features, but you have my mane, I see. Shocking, isn't it, to have six red-headed people in one house!" "Six red-headed tempers too," laughed Faith, "no five--you haven't a temper, mummy. Come along, Audrey." She hurried along the narrow corridor and opened a door at the other end, "There--that is our room-- won't it be jolly? I am sorry it is so untidy now, but it will be lovely when we have settled in, won't it?" Audrey glanced about her, speechless, "How--how small and--and old-fashioned the room looks," she said at last. "At granny's they are so high, and they look so light and bright. Where am I to put all my things? You see I have rather a lot of clothes." "Have you?" said Faith wistfully, "well it's lucky that I haven't. I will give you another drawer in my chest of drawers. Now I must run down to baby. Mary is cooking, and there is only Debby to look after her. Will you come down when you are ready? It will soon be tea-time, and I want you to see baby. Oh, Audrey, she is such a darling. You'll be sure to love her. Doesn't it seem odd that you have never seen her--your very own sister!" "Yes," said Audrey, but without eagerness. "I wish though that she had been a boy. We were too many girls before." Faith went downstairs with a shadow on her bright spirits. Why was it that nothing seemed quite right? Perhaps she had expected too much. Somehow she had a feeling that Audrey was not pleased with anything, nor comfortable. She could give her another drawer or two and more room in the cupboard, but she could not change the long, low rooms to high, light ones, nor her baby sister into a brother. "And I don't want to!" she cried as she met the young person in question crawling along the hall to meet her. "Fay! Fay! Fay!" cried Joan joyfully, and chuckled with delight at sight of her. Faith caught her up in her arms and hugged her. "Oh, Joan, you darling-- but what about your clean pinny that I had put on on purpose to make you look nice when your new big sister saw you for the first time?" But Joan only caught Faith's curls in her two plump little hands, and drew her face down until she could rub her own soft baby face against it.