Nancy hesitated one moment, but something in Aunt Milly's frightened glance seemed to say, "Go away!" So she went out and closed the door upon the two sisters. Alone in her own room a storm of anger shook her. "I _hate_ her!" she cried out to the ugly walls. "I _hate_ her! She's--just--_stone_!" "I'm _glad_ I'm not a real Leavitt! We were _so_ happy!" Then, really frightened, Nancy listened intently to catch some word from the other room. CHAPTER VII AUNT MILLY'S STORY When Nancy could stand the interval of quiet no longer, she went back to Miss Milly's door. She did not even knock. So sure was she of finding a crushed and heartbroken Aunt Milly within that she stood dumbfounded before the little creature who sat bolt upright upon the couch. "Come in, my dear--and close the door!" Everything about Miss Milly seemed to say that "the worm has turned." There was a glow on her face different from that it had worn out in the orchard; it seemed to come from some fire within. "Open every blind in the room, Nancy," she commanded in a tone that was new for Aunt Milly. "I might as well get what light I can in here. Now come and sit beside me." For a moment Aunt Milly patted Nancy's hand and said nothing. Then she gave a little sigh. "I can't _tell_ you, Nancy, I can't even _begin_ to tell you, what you've done for me--taking me out there! If I never go again, I've had it once. And it's sort of stiffened something inside of me!" She fell silent again. Nancy was wishing that she could have heard what had passed between Aunt Sabrina and Miss Milly that had left Miss Milly so defiant! Aunt Milly seemed to read her thought. "She was dreadfully angry and it was partly because she was frightened--really frightened. You see, Nancy, sister Sabrina thinks things must always go just so and that it's almost wicked to try--different things. She says--I've made my bed!" "What _does_ she mean, Aunt Milly?" "It's a long story, dear." "I'd like to hear it, Aunt Milly." "I suppose you ought to know--someone else may tell you, old Webb or B'lindy, or even Sabrina, though she'd rather die first! I think I used to be something like you, Nancy, or I would have been, if it hadn't been for--the trouble!" "Will it make you unhappy to tell it, Aunt Milly?" "No, child. I used to lie here by the hour and think things over and over, but after awhile I got so things sort of blurred--I suppose I grew resigned and all the fight inside of me died. There never was much. You see Sabrina brought me up and she was as stern then as she is now. Our father was like that, too. My mother died when I was a baby."