.

"Do you? I don't. I hate this poky little house in the centre of
detestable fashion; but if I could have an atelier, or a studio, I ought
to say, in Gower Street, it would be nearly as good as Paris. Well, if
you won't sit any longer, I suppose you won't. Now let us come
downstairs."

The girls left the studio and entered the drawing-room. Here they found
Mrs. Bernard Temple and Nora. Nora was lying on a sofa looking tired and
pale, and Mrs. Bernard Temple was moving about the room in a bustling
sort of fashion arranging flowers. The drawing-room was small and
crowded with knick-knacks. Antonia seldom swept across this room without
knocking a table over or flicking a paper on to the floor.

"Now, my dear, be careful!" exclaimed her parent. "That papier-mache
table on which I have just arranged these lovely late roses, sent to me
by dear Sir John, will not stand one of your lunges. I cannot imagine
how you have got that peculiar walk, Antonia; its exactly as if you were
on board ship."

Antonia lounged towards a chair, into which she flung herself.

"Dear me, it is hot!" she exclaimed, pushing back her thick black hair
from her forehead. "Never mind about my walk, mother; let me hear the
news. What did Sir Henry Fraser say of Nora?"

Mrs. Bernard Temple sank into another chair.

"The dear child!" she exclaimed. "She had a trying morning."

"Pray don't talk of it!" exclaimed Nora from her sofa. "It was too
desperate."

"Why, did he hurt you?" exclaimed Antonia.

"Oh, no! he was kindness itself; but we had to wait so long before we
saw him."

"Pooh!" answered Antonia. "Was that the dreadful part? Tell me what he
said when you did see him? Are you likely soon to be quite well again?"

"With care," interrupted Mrs. Bernard Temple, "dear Nora will recover
perfectly. Her back is still very weak, but there is no injury. She may
walk a little daily, but must lie down a good deal."

"You're quite sure he wasn't anxious about you?" asked Antonia, fixing
her eyes on Nora.

Nora started.

"No; what do you mean?" she said. "You quite startle me. Why should he
be anxious?"

"Well, I almost wish he were. It would suit my purpose to have him
anxious for a day or two. However, if he isn't, he isn't, and there's an
end of it. Nora, don't you want to see your father very badly?"

"Oh, yes!" replied Nora. Her face grew pink and red. "Of course I'd like
to see him, but I have not an idea where he is."

"He's in Lon