liberate scrutiny something so
nearly insulting that a childish impulse to cry then and there
suddenly seized upon Robinette. This was her mother's home--and no
kiss had welcomed her to it, no kind word! There were perfunctory
questions about her journey, references to the coldness and lateness
of the spring, enquiries after the health of Maria Spalding (whose
mother was a Gallup), but no claiming of kinship, no naming of her
mother's name nor of her native country! Robinette's ardent spirit had
felt sorrow, but it had never met rebuff nor known injustice, and the
sudden stir of revolt at her heart was painful with an almost physical
pain.

After a long drawn hour of this social torture, Mrs. de Tracy rang,
and a hard-featured elderly maid appeared.

"Show Mrs. Loring to her room, Benson," said the mistress of the
house, "and help her to unpack."

Robinette followed her conductor upstairs with a sinking heart. Oh!
but the chill of this English spring was in her bones, and the
coldness of a reception so frigid that her passionate young spirit
almost rebelled on the spot, prompting wild ideas and impulsive
impossibilities; even a flight to her mother's old nurse--to Lizzie
Prettyman, so often lovingly described, with her little thatched
cottage beyond the river! Surely she would find the welcome there that
was lacking here, and the touch of human kindness that one craved in a
foreign land. But no! Robinette called to her aid her strong American
common sense and the "grit" that her countrymen admire. Was she to
confess herself routed in the very first onset--the very first attempt
in storming the ancestral stronghold? With a characteristically quick
return of hope, the Admiral's niece exclaimed, "Certainly not!"

IV

A CHILLY RECEPTION

Mrs. Benson approached the wardrobe trunk with the air of a person who
has taken an immediate and violent dislike to an object.

"We have all looked at your box, ma'am, but I am sorry to say we are
not sure that it is set up properly. It is very different from any we
have ever seen at the Manor, and the men had some difficulty in
getting it up to the room. I fancy it is upside down, is it not? No?
We rather thought it was. I would call the boot-and-knife boy to
unlock it, but he jammed his hand in attempting to force the catches,
and I thought you would be kind enough to instruct me how to open it,
perhaps?"

"I am quite able to do it myself," said Robinette, keeping down