"I shall go to meet him," Philippa said. "It will be less trying for him than having to see us all at once. And I am going to put up new curtains in his room--he hated those old moreen atrocities--and make it look bright and cheerful, as if it had been kept ready for him all the time. I'm going to be so busy this week, I don't know how I shall get through all I want to do in the way of preparation." Alas for Philippa! her work during the next few days was to lie in bed and burn and shiver with an attack of the prevalent influenza. Hope acted nurse, and Theo said blandly, "Don't worry, dear; I will look after the house. I know exactly what to do"--a statement which the invalid received with undisguised incredulity. "Shell make an awful mess of it," she sighed; but Theo had no intention of failing. She was a clever, capable girl, who could do most things well if she chose to give them her attention; and, as we know, she had a special reason for displaying her housekeeping powers. She put aside her writing for the time being, studied the cookery-book and the shop windows in the morning, and in the afternoon enveloped herself in a huge white apron and put into practice what she had learned. All old housekeepers are apt to get into a rut and supply the same dishes over and over again, and Philippa was no exception to the rule, so it happened that the very novelty of Theo's menus commanded success, and the invalid was constantly assured that she need not hurry out of bed, since all was going on swimmingly without her. If she shed tears at the intelligence, it was put down to the depression which was a part of the illness, and she was urged to take a cup of Theo's beef-tea--"Such excellent beef-tea!"--or to take some of Theo's jelly--"Wonderfully good jelly!"--by way of restorative. There could be no going to meet Barney now. The most she could do was to crawl out of bed an hour before he was expected and look on feebly at the final preparations. She searched for a dozen deficiencies--hoping, if the truth were told, to see tangible proofs of her absence--but all was orderly, dainty, and appropriate: the best china on the table, flowers in the vases, the fatted chickens roasting in the oven, and Barney's favourite pudding all ready to be served, with its whipped cream ornamented in professional style with candied cherries and angelica. "You must sit still in that easy-chair, poor darling! _I'll_ carve," said Theo kindly; but Philippa felt much more inclined to snap than to be grateful for her consideration. She hated to be out of her usual place on this evening of all others, and to be obliged to play the part of spectator while Theo issued orders for the prodigal's reception.