She hurried from the room, banged her elbow against the door, and went upstairs. She opened the door of the Stronghold about an inch, and called through, all in one agitated breath:— "You’re to come down, and oh, _don’t_ laugh, Nell!" "I _can’t_, M-Molly! I s-simply _can’t_!" "You must! Oh, _do_ be serious!" There was a pause. "What are you all doing down there, Molly?" "Standing—" There was a ripple of laughter from the other side of the door. "Oh, don’t! I can see it! I—I can’t come." Molly had started giggling directly Nell’s laugh reached her. "Oh, Nell, don’t be—so mean! You—you’re making me laugh!" "Why don’t you come in?" "I daren’t!" Inside and outside the door there was laughter then. Then a despairing— "You go down, M-Molly! I’ll come in a minute!" Molly fled. "S-she’s coming, Aunt Kezia." She gave a terrified giggle, and took her place next to the Atom. There was a pause. All heard a light pattering step outside and glanced towards the door. Nothing happened. Miss Kezia stood gaunt and grim; no one spoke. Denis’s head drooped low; he had folded his hands meekly before him. The door handle was touched—there was another pause—then it was turned abruptly, suddenly, and Nell marched in. Head back, looking straight in front of her, biting her lip, frowning, she marched in, took her stand beside Ted, and implored him in a shaky whisper not to make her l-laugh. Then Miss Kezia began. She started on the vulgarity and danger of racing in hansoms in London. She pointed out the trouble in which they might have involved their drivers. She emphasised the scandal there would have been had they been pursued by the police, and Sheila Pat’s face grew full of longing. From hansoms she went on to the awful iniquity of having left the house unguarded; from that to Sarah’s holiday, of which she disapproved strongly. From Sarah’s holiday she ranged austerely to grease stains, untidiness, foolish hilarity, and hysteria. She threw in various uncomplimentary remarks on feather-heads, untrustworthiness, rowdyism, and other things of a similar nature, and then in a final tone she wound up:— "I shall forbid all intercourse between you and Master Lancaster for a month!" There was a sudden movement, an uplifting of heads, a very definite and unmistakable change in the faces confronting her. "Aunt Kezia—" Denis began, and his tone left nothing to the imagination with regard to the nature of the thing he meant to say. Miss Kezia cut in with sudden and very wise haste:— "No, I shall not do that, but I shall write to your parents by this mail, and tell them how you failed to behave with any decorum in my absence. Now you may go." They did go. They fled. *CHAPTER XXVII* Nell rose with a headache. "I never," said she, "owned such a thing at home!" She went to the window and looked out. A dingy grey fog hung over everything; the garden walls were wet.