Now, the corner room, with the wide bay-window, was the room of all others which Miss Rossiter preferred, and she had appropriated it to herself and held possession of it in spite of Mrs. Tiffe’s broad hints that there were other apartments in the house besides the “very best chamber.” But she must give it up now, and with many a sigh of regret she saw Kitty gather up her bottles of medicine, her boxes of pills, her wine and her brandy, and galvanic battery, and bear them to another closet on the opposite side of the house, away from the river and mountains, where her only view was the little town, which she detested, and the hill rising darkly behind it. It was hard, and Miss Rossiter felt very much injured and aggrieved, and cried softly to herself, and thought very bitter things of that woman who had brought her to this strait, and for whom the house was being turned upside down. Mrs. Tiffe was already at work with her maids in the south wing taking up carpets, removing furniture, washing windows, and in the room just vacated by Miss Rossiter burning coffee, and sugar, and paper by way of removing the smell of drugs with which the apartment was permeated. But do what she would the faint odor of valerian was still perceptible, making the good woman “sick as a dog,” as she expressed it, and bringing into requisition as a last experiment burnt feathers, which, combined with the valerian, made the atmosphere of the place unbearable. “Paint will do it and nothing else,” was Mrs. Tiffe’s final verdict, as she retreated to the open window and leaned out for a breath of pure air. Not the slightest interest did either of the ladies show in the changes being made, but Mrs. Tiffe and her son felt themselves equal to the task until it came to selecting carpets, and furniture and curtains in New York. Then Perry said some one ought to go with him and not let him take the entire responsibility. But neither Miss Rossiter, nor Julia, nor Alice, made any response, and the probability was that he would go alone until the morning came, when Emma appeared at breakfast in her walking-dress and announced her intention to accompany Perry. “Somebody ought to go for father’s sake,” she said; “and if no one else will, I must. I shall stop at Uncle Calvert’s and get auntie to help me.” To this there was no open opposition. Miss Rossiter had the toothache and could not talk, while Julia merely raised her eyebrows in token of her surprise; and Alice said: “You are certainly very kind, Em, and forgiving, to be so much interested for that woman.” “It isn’t for that woman; it’s for father, and because I know he wishes it,” Emma replied, as she put on her hat and shawl and started with Perry for New York.