I could hardly wait to hear her "explanations," and so I was glad Mrs. Ess Kay and Miss Woodburn were hypnotised by Mother into thinking they wanted to go early to bed. Mother is very clever about such things. She didn't come again to talk to me in my room; I suppose she thought it best to let the new ideas simmer. Anyhow, she sent Thompson away, and shut the door between Vic's room and hers sooner than usual. Presently Vic slipped quietly in to me, in the new blue dressing-gown which was to have been mine, only when she saw it finished, she wanted it, and had four inches taken up above the hem. "Well, how are you feeling about things now?" she asked, sitting down in front of the mirror, with her hairbrush in her hand. "I'll tell you after you've told me why I ought to feel one way more than another," I said with prudent reserve. "Then, like a good child, brush my hair. I wouldn't let Thompson do anything, because I knew you'd be dying to have me, and I can talk so beautifully while my hair is being done. It makes me wish I were a pussy cat, so that I could purr." "I hate having mine touched by anyone," said I. "Well, perhaps I should hate it too, if mine were curly and about six inches thick, and came down to my knees; I should be afraid of being pulled to pieces. There! That's heavenly. Well, now I can begin. You know, Baby, this isn't a _quite_ new idea about your going to America. Mrs. Ess Kay _did_ say something on the subject when she was staying here before." "Oh, yes, when she was going away she said how much she would like to have either of us visit her. Is that all?" "It's something, isn't it? Enough to make a handle of, when a handle's needed." "But why is a handle needed?" "I'm going to tell you the whole truth and nothing but the truth. Mother had a letter from Sir Gilbert Mantell this morning." "Oh, that big, splashy crest was his, then. It _looked_ like him, now I come to think of it. Nobody but a brand-new knight, with piles and piles of money, would need one more than half the size." "Don't sneer at his money, my good child. We want it badly enough in this family." "Not his." "Yes, we do. And I see a reasonable prospect of our getting it, if you'll go to the States with Mrs. Ess Kay." "What can that have to do with it? I don't know one bit what you mean." "That's because you're such a great baby. If you _must_ have every t crossed and every i dotted, Sir Gilbert has apparently conceived a patronising toleration for your Victoria, which is likely, if properly fostered and encouraged, to develop into something more satisfactory." "Patronising, indeed! That dull elephant!"