"You don't mean it! What did Auntie say?" "She didn't say much then, 'cause Lu was cryin' and nearly dead with tramping for miles; but next day she got a jolly good whipping and was shut up on bread and water all over Sunday." "Oh, poor Lu!" Toni felt very pitiful towards the hapless cricket enthusiast. "After all, Fan, you and I once ran away to see the Boat Race on our own!" "Yes, and we got jolly well punished for it, too! I can remember Ma's slipper to this day!" "Well, you ought to be sorry for Lu!" "Serve her right," said Miss Gibbs with sisterly severity. "Cricket, indeed! What do girls want with cricket! Anyhow, she won't do it again in a hurry--Ma saw to that!" "And how's Josh, Fan?" Toni saw that no sympathy was to be looked for from the culprit's sister. "A 1. I say, Toni, where's Mr. Rose?" Fanny, regaining some of her usual assurance, looked round her vaguely. "He has had to go up to town. But I thought you wouldn't mind, Fan. I want to show you the house and have a real good talk." "My! It _is_ a house and no mistake!" Fanny gazed about the beautiful room with frank admiration. "I thought the man must be going wrong when he turned in here--and what lovely gardens you've got." "Yes, they are jolly, aren't they? Well, shall we go over the house before tea or after? It's very nearly four, and I said we'd have tea early." "I'm glad of that." Fanny beamed approval. "To tell you the truth, Toni, I hadn't time for much lunch. We're supposed to shut at one, you know, but of course we don't get off at once, and to-day everything went wrong! At the last minute I upset a box of ribbons, and the spiteful things all went and got unrolled, and then that odious little Jackson--you know, the shopwalker I told you about--came and slanged me like anything." "What a shame!" Toni had been one of the workers of the world too recently to have lost sympathy with the grievances of those who work. "I wish you could leave the old shop, Fanny. Why don't you and Josh get married?" "Too soon." Fanny was of a prudent nature. "We _must_ wait till Josh gets a rise, and I can't afford to leave the shop. You see, I must have a few clothes before I marry ... by the way, Toni, what about your clothes? You didn't get much when you married, did you?" "No, but before we came here we went up to town and stayed at the Russell for two days and did a whole heap of shopping." Toni stifled a sigh at the thought of those long hours spent in shops. "You see I didn't really know what to get, so Owen went, with me, and I got a lot of things ready-made, and was fitted for others, so I have quite a trousseau by now!" "That skirt's well-cut," said Miss Gibbs, surveying her cousin critically. "Blue serge always looks well--and that white blouse is good thick silk." "I'm glad you like it. Owen likes me in these low collars, and they're cool." Toni looked at the clock. "But come upstairs and take off your hat and we'll have tea straight away."