They went into the dining-room together. The elderly house-parlour maid being present the whole time, they only talked about trifles, but when the meal was over, they went back to the drawing-room. Anstice stirred the fire, and then dipping into a low-cushioned chair opposite her cousin she looked expectantly at her. "Have you any advice to give me?" "My dear," said Lady Lucy, hesitating a little, "I have not only advice, but a—a post open for you, ready for you to accept, and that is what has brought me over. The last time I saw your poor father, he made full confession to me of the hash he had made over his money affairs. He lost a good deal in a foolish investment he made a few years ago, but he was insistent that you should not be told. And so I knew what a predicament you would be in." She paused. She was an upright, handsome old lady, with very piercing dark eyes, and with great dignity of manner. Now she seemed ill at ease. "I had better tell you about my visitor first. You met him once at my house. He is a nephew of my late husband's, Justin Holme, a very handsome fellow, but of a roving disposition." "I remember him. He was just married, and I heard afterwards that it was rather an unhappy affair. Didn't she leave him?" "No. She was going to do so; but she was hurt in a motor accident, and the boy, the only one, was born prematurely, a cripple. She died at his birth, leaving two little daughters as well as this boy. Justin took to yachting. He has always been crazed for the sea. His house is in the wilds of Cumberland, by the lakes." Anstice's gaze wandered out of the window. She was not interested in Lady Lucy's nephew. Her own future filled her thoughts. "The poor man," went on Lady Lucy, noticing Anstice's abstraction and hurrying over her words, "has been distracted by his home worries. His girls seem mischievous hoydens, and a succession of governesses passes through the house. He has tried schools, they run away from them, or are expelled; the governesses make love to him, and scandal is busy. He spends or likes to spend most of his time away in his yacht; just now, there is the usual difficulty of servants, and he is at his wits' end. He came to me for help. And when we were talking things over, I thought of your love for children and the wonderful gift you have for managing them. And, my dear, he remembers you quite well. He said yours was not a face which could be forgotten. But he said no more. He seems to have turned into a woman-hater. Perhaps I ought not to say that, for he's anxious about his children; his boy especially, who is too young and delicate to go to school. Well, I won't beat about the bush. It won't be an easy task, but you will have a beautiful home, and you are nothing if not courageous." "Am I to be governess and housekeeper in one? I couldn't do it, Cousin Lucy. I have not had the education to teach."