"So we sailed from Liverpool, and the very day we landed, Mrs. Bidwell brought me here. We rang the old bell at the gate, and then waited and waited. I thought no one would ever come. But at last the gate opened, and Miss Benedict stood there in her hat and veil. "She acted very strangely from the first. Mrs. Bidwell told her all about me, and she never said a single word, but only shook her head several times. I thought she was certainly going to refuse to take me in, her manner was so odd. After she had stood thinking a long time she suddenly said to me, 'Come, then!' and to Mrs. Bidwell, 'I thank you!' And she led me inside, followed by the driver with my box, and shut the gate." Cecily stopped short, as if that were the end of the story. "Oh, but--go on!" stammered Marcia, quivering with impatience. "But I must do my marketing now," said Cecily. "Here we are at the shop. I'll tell you the rest when we come out." CHAPTER VII SURPRISES ALL AROUND "How long have you been in New York?" began Janet, when at last they emerged from the little shop. "About two months," said Cecily. "And I've lived in that place all this time, and have not known why. Miss Benedict has never explained. She acts toward me as if I were a lodger, or--or some one she allowed to stay there for reasons of her own, but didn't particularly want to have about. She's kind to me, but never--friendly. Sometimes she looks at me in the strangest way--I can't imagine what she's thinking about. But why does she live like this?" and she turned inquiring eyes on the girls. "I'm sure _we_ don't know!" exclaimed Marcia. "We only wonder about it. The house seems to be all shut up." "Why, it _is_!" Cecily enlightened them. "And it makes it so dark and gloomy! There is lovely furniture in the drawing-room, but it is all covered over with some brown stuff--even the pictures. And most of the other rooms are not used at all--nothing on the ground floor. I eat down in the basement, and my bedroom is on the top floor--where I looked out that time. I have never been in any of the other bedrooms except Miss Benedict's, when her ankle was bad." "But what do you do with yourself all day?" asked Janet. "I keep my room in order, and help Miss Benedict whenever she lets me. Of course, she prepares all the food herself, but in such a pretty, dainty way. But there are a good many hours when the time hangs so heavy on my hands. Sometimes she lets me dust the rooms on the ground floor. She keeps everything very, very neat, even if it is all covered up and never used. The rest of the time I sit in my room and read the few books I brought with me, and tell myself long stories, or listen to your music. I dare not now even peep through the shutters. Once I opened them, when you were playing, but Miss Benedict came in just then and forbade me to do it again." "Doesn't she ever let you go out and take a walk or get a little exercise?" questioned Marcia.