Paulina was already on her knees, removing the boots and accommodating a pair of slippers to the little feet. “We might as well be in a desert island,” continued Vera, “shut up from everything with an old frump.” “Take care,” said Agatha, in warning, signing towards Thekla. “I am sure she looks jolly and good-natured,” said Paulina. “But did you hear what Elsie Lee always calls her, ‘our maiden aunt’?” All three laughed, and Vera added, “All the girls say she can’t be less than fifty.” “Topsy! You know she is only sixteen years older than I am.” “Well, that’s half a hundred!” “Sixteen and nineteen, what do they make?” “Oh, never mind your sums. She has got the face and look of half a hundred!” “Now, I thought her face and her dress like a girl’s,” said Paulina. “Yes,” said Vera, “that’s just the way with old maids. They dress themselves up youthfully and affect girlish airs, and are all the more horrid.” “That’s your experience!” said Agatha. “But there’s the waggon creeping up at a snail’s pace. Let us run down and see after our things.” CHAPTER III—THE FIRST SUNDAY “Speed on, speed on, the footpath way, And merrily hunt the stile-a; A merry heart goes all the way, A sad tires in a mile-a.” —SHAKESPEARE. SUNDAY morning rose with new and bright hopes. The girls looked out at their window, and saw that it was a beautiful morning, and that the spring sunshine glowed upon the purple summits of the hills. Agatha supposed there would be a pleasant walk to church; Paulina said she had heard good accounts of the services in that part of the country; Vera hoped that they would see what their neighbours were like, and Thekla was delighted with the jolly garden and places to scramble in. On this first Sunday they were let alone to explore the garden before the walk to church, which Magdalen foresaw would be a long affair with Mrs. Best. After their decorous stillness at breakfast, it was a contrast to hear the merry voices and laughter outside, but it subsided as soon as she approached, though she did not hear the murmured ripple, “Here comes maiden aunt! Behold—Quite a spicy hat!” In truth, Magdalen’s hat was a pretty new one, not by any means unsuitable to her age and appearance, and altogether her air was more stylish than the country town breeding was accustomed to; her dress perfectly plain, but well made. Vera was perhaps the most sensible of the perfection of the turn-out; Agatha chiefly felt that her more decorated skirt and mantle had their inconveniences in walking through the red mud of the lanes, impeded by books and umbrella, which left no leisure to admire the primroses that studded the deep banks and which delighted Thekla in the freedom of short skirts.