'She cannot possibly be more out of the common than Olive. Olive has all sorts of absurd notions in her head. It is odd Mrs. Lambert's training should have failed so signally in her girls. I am afraid your preciseness will be sometimes offended,' he continued, looking round the room, which, with all its homeliness, had the little finishes that a woman's hand always gives. 'Olive might have arranged those flowers, but she would have forgotten to water them, or to exclude their presence when dead.' 'You are a nice observer,' returned Mildred, smiling. 'Do not make me afraid of my duties beforehand, as though I do not exactly know how all the rooms look! Betha's pretty drawing-room trampled by dirty boots, Arnold's study a hopeless litter of books, not a corner of the writing-table clear. Chrissy used them as bricks,' she continued, laughing. 'Roy and she had a mighty Tower of Babel one day. You should have seen Arnold's look when he found out that _The Seven Lamps of Architecture_ laid the foundation; but Betha only laughed, and told him it served him right.' 'But she kept them in order, though. In her quiet way she was an excellent disciplinarian. Well, Miss Lambert, I am trespassing overmuch on your goodness. To-morrow I am to make my ward's acquaintance--one of the clique has brought her over from Dieppe--and I am to receive her from his hands. Would it be troubling you too much if I ask you to accompany me?--the poor child will feel so forlorn with only men round her.' 'I will go with you and bring her home. No, please, do not thank me, Dr. Heriot. If you knew how lonely I am here----' and for the first time Mildred's eyes filled with tears. CHAPTER II 'IF YOU PLEASE, MAY I BRING RAG AND TATTERS?' 'O, my Father's hand, Stroke heavily, heavily the poor hair down, Draw, press the child's head closer to thy knee-- I'm still too young, too young, to sit alone.'--Aurora Leigh. So this was Polly. It was only a shabby studio, where poverty and art fought a hand-to-hand struggle for the bare maintenance, but among the after scenes of her busy life Mildred never forgot the place where she first saw Dr. Heriot's ward; it lingered in her memory, a fair, haunting picture as of something indescribably sweet and sad.