greeted them.

Nan sat down by Mrs. Paine, who was rather deaf, and in due time made
her little speech. She was rather pale with the effort, and her voice
faltered a little, but every word was heard at the other end of the
room.

"Leave Glen Cottage, my dear? I can't have heard you rightly. I am
very deaf, to-day,--very. I think I must have caught cold." And Mrs.
Paine turned a mild face of perplexity on Nan; but, before she could
reiterate her words, Carrie was on the footstool at her feet, and Miss
Sartoris, with a grave look of concern on her handsome features, was
standing beside her:

"Oh, Nan! tell us all about it! Of course we saw something was the
matter. Dulce was so strange that afternoon; and you have all been
keeping yourselves invisible for ever so long."

"There is very little to tell," returned Nan, trying to speak
cheerfully. "Mother has had bad news. Mr. Gardiner is bankrupt, and
all our invested money is gone. Of course we could not go on living at
Glen Cottage. There is some talk, Carrie, of your cousin, Mr.
Ibbetson, coming to look at it: it will be nice for us if he could
take the lease off our hands, and then we should go down to the
Friary."

"How I shall hate to see Ralph there!--not but what it will suit him
and Louisa well enough, I dare say. But never mind him: I want to
know all about yourselves," continued Carrie, affectionately. "This is
dreadful, Nan! I can hardly believe it. What are we to do without you?
and where is the Friary? and what is it like? and what will you do
with yourselves when you get there?"

"Yes, indeed, that is what we want to know," agreed Miss Sartoris,
putting her delicately-gloved hand on Nan's shoulder; and then Sophy
Paine joined the little group, and Mrs. Forbes and Miss Twentyman left
off talking to Phillis, and began listening; with all their might. Now
it was that Nan began to foresee difficulties.

"The Friary is very small," she went on, "but it will just hold us and
Dorothy. Dorothy is coming with us, of course. She is old, but she
works better than some of the young ones. She is a faithful
creature----"

But Carrie interrupted her impatiently:

"But, Nan, what will you do with yourselves? Hadleigh is a nice place,
I believe. Mamma, we must all go down there next summer, and stay
there,--you shall come with us, Adelaide,--and then we shall be able
to cheer these poor things up; and Nan, you and Phillis must come and
stay with us. We don't mean