there is a great deal to be done."

"How pale you look," said Nora, touched with a feeling of compunction at
an indescribable something in Hester's face and voice. "Are you really,
really fretting?"

"No, I hope not," replied Hester; "but I am really, really fighting, and
that is hard work; now I must be off."

She left the room in a hurry, and as she went away to interview the
housekeeper, some tears gathered in her eyes.

"Dear, dear Molly," she murmured to herself; "how very different she is
from Nora; oh, how I wish Susy was not going to be settled at the
Towers, it seems to be quite the last straw. 'As well Mr. Drummond as
another,' says Nora; ah, but she would not say that if she really knew
Susy."

The remaining hours which were to intervene before the arrival of the
guests passed swiftly by. Sir John went alone in the landau to
Nortonbury to meet them. An omnibus was sent for the luggage and for
Mrs. Bernard Temple's and Miss Drummond's maids. Nan, flushed, excited,
and defiant, stood in her white dress on the steps; Hester, also in
white, stood by her little sister and held her hand with a firm
pressure.

"Keep quiet, Nan--do keep quiet, for my sake," she whispered once in an
emphatic voice.

"I'll vent it on Susy Drummond," exclaimed Nan: "she's the safety valve;
I'm glad she's coming."

"Here they are," said Hester. She felt herself turning very pale, and
laid her other hand on Nan's shoulder. The sound of wheels was
distinctly audible, and the next moment the landau with its four
occupants bowled rapidly up to the door. Mrs. Bernard Temple was all
smiles and bows. She was a graceful, well-preserved woman, handsomely
and fashionably dressed. Although the same age as Sir John, she looked
years younger. Antonia was a dark-eyed, sallow-faced girl, difficult to
say anything about at the first glance, and Susy Drummond was the
well-known Susy Drummond of Lavender House. A little taller, a little
fatter, a little more sleepy-looking, if that were possible, than she
used to be in the old days, but still the Susy whom Hester had detested,
and whose departure from the school was hailed with relief by everyone.

Before anyone else could speak she now raised her full, light blue eyes,
fixed them on Hester, and drawled out, "Who would have thought of seeing
you again, Prunes and Prism?"

Hester ran down the steps accompanied by Nan. There was a confused
murmur of greeting and introduction. Mrs. Bernard Tem