"You talk foolishly, Antoinette," her mother put in. "Don't you know that Mr. Southwode's home is in England?" "People can change their homes, mamma. Then, you are not going to stay long, Mr. Southwode?" "I do not know how long. That is an undecided point." "And what have you come over for now?" "Antoinette!" said her mother again. "I do not know if you can excuse her, Mr. Southwode; she is entirely too out-spoken. That is a question you have nothing to do with, Nettie." "Why not, mamma? He has come for something; and if it is business, or travelling, or hunting, I would like to know." "Hunting, at this time of year!" said Mrs. Busby. "I might say it is business," said Mr. Southwode. "In one part of my business, perhaps you can help me." Antoinette pricked up her ears delightedly, and eagerly asked how? and what? "I made it part of my business to inquire about a little girl that I left three years ago under your mother's care." "Rotha!" exclaimed Antoinette; and a cloudy shadow of displeasure and suspicion forthwith fell over her face; not tinder such good control as her mother's. "A little girl! She was not so very little." "What sort of a girl has she turned out to be?" "Not little now, I can tell you. She is a great deal bigger than I am. So you came to see about Rotha?" "What can you tell me about her?" "What do you want to know?" "Nothing but the truth," said Mr. Southwode gravely. "But the truth about what? Rotha is just what she used to be." "Not changed except in inches?" "_Inches!_ Feet!--" said Antoinette. "We don't think about inches when we look at her. I don't know about anything else. If you want an account of her studies you must ask somebody at school." "Her teacher was yours?" "O yes. Lately, you know, we were both in the upper class; and of course we were together in Mrs. Mowbray's lessons; but then in other things we were apart." "How was that?" "Studied different things," said Antoinette shortly. "Had different masters. I can't tell you about Rotha's lessons, if you want to know that." She was pulling off her gloves as she spoke, and tugged at them with an appearance of vexation, which might be due to their excellent fit and consequent difficulty of removal. "Has she proved herself a pleasant inmate of the family?" "She has been rather an inmate of Mrs. Mowbray's family," said Antoinette. "Mrs. Mowbray has swallowed her up and carried her off from us. _We_ don't see much of her." "Antoinette," said her mother here, "Mr. Southwode wants to know Rotha's address; and I cannot give him the name of the place. Can you help me recollect it?" "Never knew it, mamma. I didn't know the place had a name. I can't recollect what I never heard." "There must be a post-office," Mr. Southwode remarked. "Must there? O I suppose there must, somewhere; but I don't know it." "Lesbia could not find my address book," Mrs. Busby added.