"Nothing, thank you," said Maggie. "Been with you some time that woman?" said Mr. Brassy. "Yes," said Maggie, "about five years, I think." "Hum! Hum--name of Harmer." "Yes. Harmer." "Not married?" "No," answered Maggie, wondering at this interest. "Not so far as you know." "No. She's always Miss Harmer." "Quite so--quite so. Dear me, yes." Other people appeared, asked questions and vanished. It seemed to have been all taken out of her hands and it was strange how desolate this made her. For so many years she had had the management of that house, since her fourteenth birthday, indeed. Ugly and dilapidated though the place had been, it had grown, after a time, to belong to her, and she had felt as though it were in some way grateful to her for keeping it, poor thing, together. Now it had suddenly withdrawn itself and was preparing for the next comer. Maggie felt this quite definitely and thought that probably it was glad that now its roof would be mended and its floors made whole. It had thrown her off ... Well, she would not burden it long. There were sounds then of wheels on the gravel. The old dilapidated cab from Clinton with its ricketty windows and moth-eaten seats that smelt of straw and beer was standing at the door, the horse puffing great breaths of steam into the frozen air. Her aunt had arrived. Maggie, standing behind the window, looked out. The carriage door opened, and a figure, that seemed unusually tall, appeared to straighten itself out and rose to its full height on the gravel path as though it had been sitting in the cab pressed together, its head upon its knees. Then in the hall that was dark even on the brightest day, Aunt Anne revealed herself as a lady, tall indeed, but not too tall, of a fine carriage, in a black rather shabby dress and a black bonnet. Her face was grave and sharply pointed, with dark eyes--sad rather, and of the pale remote colour that the Virgin in the St. Dreot's east end window wears. Standing there in the dusky hall, quietly, quite apart from the little bustle that surrounded her, she seemed to Maggie even in that first moment like some one wrapt, caught away into her own visions. "I paid the cabman five shillings," she said very softly. "I hope that was right. And you are Maggie, are you?" She bent down and kissed her. Her lips were warm and comforting. Maggie, who had, when she was shy, something of the off-hand manner of a boy, said: "Yes. That's all right. We generally give him four and six." They went into the dining-room where was Mr. Brassy. He came forward to them, blowing his words at them, rubbing his hands: "Miss Cardinal--I am honoured--my name is Brassy, your brother's lawyer. Very, very sad--so sudden, so sudden. The funeral is at twelve. If there is anything I can do--"