et, and great ingenuity was exhibited in
expressing disappointment in the language which was the order of the
day.

"C'est un horrible shame," sighed Kitty sadly. "C'est tout bien pour
vous, parce que vous etes toujours ici; mais moi, je suis chez moi, et
si elles sortez quand je ne suis pas ici, je serais _mad_!"

"J'expect qu'elles sorteraient quand nous sommes tous loin. C'est
toujours le fashion!" sighed Chrissie, acutely conscious that her French
was superior to that of her friend, but politely ignoring the fact. "Je
demanderai a ma mere--er--er--(how do you say `pay calls'?)--a faire une
visite, aussitot que possible."

"Moi aussi," assented Kitty. "Et puis vous savez, elle peut dit:
`J'espere, Madame Vanburgh, que vos mademoiselles seraient tres grand
amies avec mes filles. Voulez vous permittez qu'elles venez a the
mercredi prochaine?'"

"Oui, et puis elles nous inviteraient en retourn." Christabel tossed
her mane over her shoulders and smiled in anticipation. She made up her
mind then and there to decorate her bedroom with her most treasured
nick-nacks on the afternoon of the Vanburghs' visit, and to keep her new
hair ribbon unused for the occasion.

But no Miss Vanburghs appeared! The next day passed, and the next, and
still another, and still no sign of a feminine presence lightened the
dark windows of the Grange. The solemn butler flitted to and fro; the
figure of a white-haired man could be dimly discerned, stretched upon a
sofa, in the oak-panelled apartment immediately facing the porch-room of
Thurston House; but that was all that the most unremitting scrutiny
could discover. Nan shivered at an attic window for an hour on end,
with no more exciting result than a glimpse of a tablecloth and a row of
silver dishes; and the great nailed door remained persistently closed.

And then the blow fell!

There were no Miss Vanburghs! There was not even a Mrs Vanburgh!
Could it be believed there was no woman in the family--no one but an old
invalid gentleman, who spent his days on a sofa, or in a wheeled chair
being slowly driven about the garden? A solitary man as tenant of the
Grange! The finest house in the neighbourhood monopolised by an
invalid! The ball-room, the billiard-room, the music-room, given over
to the possession of one who would never use them; the stables unused;
the gardens deserted! The Rendell girls could not believe it. It was
too horrible to be true. Ermyntrude, Evangeli