The strange lady was already glaring over Willis's shoulder. "What is this?" she said. "What does this mean? These rooms are not occupied; I was positively told they were not occupied. There must be some mistake. Willis--" "Yes, there is a mistake!" said Margaret, coming forward, and holding out her hand with a smile. "Is this Cousin Sophronia? I am Margaret, Cousin Sophronia. Uncle John asked me to take these rooms, and I--I feel quite at home in them already. Would you like the Pink, or the Blue Room? They are both ready, aren't they, Elizabeth?" "Yes, Miss Montfort," said Elizabeth, "quite ready." The strange lady's eyes glared wider and wider; her chest heaved; she seemed about to break out in a torrent of angry speech; but making a visible effort, she controlled herself. "How do you do, my--my dear?" she said, taking Margaret's offered hand, and giving it a little pinch with the tips of her fingers. "I--a little misunderstanding, no doubt. Willis,--the Blue Room,--for the present!" But Willis was suffering from a sudden and violent fit of coughing, which shook his whole frame, and made it necessary for him to rest his trunk against the wall and lean against it, with his head down; so that it was fully five minutes before Miss Sophronia Montfort's trunk got up to the Blue Room. CHAPTER III. THE UNEXPECTED. When Mr. Montfort came home that afternoon, Margaret was waiting for him, as usual, on the verandah; as usual, for she was determined to keep the worry out of her face and out of her voice. But as her uncle came up the steps, with his cheery "Well! and how's my lassie?" he was confronted by Miss Sophronia Montfort, who, passing Margaret swiftly, advanced with both hands held out, and a beaming smile. "My dearest John! my poor, dear fellow! Confess that I have surprised you. Confess it, John!--you did not expect to see me." "Sophronia!" exclaimed Mr. Montfort. He stood still and contemplated the visitor for a moment; then he shook hands with her, rather formally. "You certainly have surprised me, Sophronia!" he said, kindly enough. "What wind has blown you in this direction?"