en there. And Uncle James, and Helen,
and Georgiana felt rather forlorn and abandoned. They stood in the hall
and looked at each other a little blankly, like gipsies camping out in
an abandoned cathedral. An immense fire was burning in the immense
fireplace of the hall, and similar fires were burning in the state
bedroom, in a little drawing-room beyond the main drawing-room, in
another bedroom, in the giant's kitchen, and in one of the attics. These
fires and a certain amount of cleaning were the only preparations which
Helen had permitted herself to make. Even the expense of the coal had
startled James, and she proposed to get him safely in the cage before
commencing the serious business which would shatter all his nerves. By a
miracle of charm and audacity she had obtained from him the control of a
sum of seven hundred and fifty pounds. This sum, now lying nominally to
her credit at one of James's various banks, represented the difference
between eight thousand pounds (at which James had said Wilbraham Hall
would be cheap) and seven thousand two hundred and fifty pounds (at
which James had succeeded in buying Wilbraham Hall).

To the left of the hall, near the entrance, was quite a small room
(originally, perhaps, a butler's lair), and James was obstinate in
selecting this room as his office. He had his desk carried there, and
everything that personally affected him except his safe and the simple
necessaries of his bedroom. These were taken, not to the state bedroom,
which he had declined, after insincere pressure from Helen to accept it,
but to a much smaller sleeping-chamber. The numerous family of Windsor
chairs, together with other ancient honesties, were sent up to
attics--too old at forty! Georgiana was established in a glorious attic;
the state bedroom was strewn with Helen's gear; and scarcely anything
remained unniched in the Hall save the ship and ocean. They all rested
from their labours, and Helen was moved by one of her happiest
inspirations.

"Georgiana," she said, "go and make some tea. Bring a cup for yourself."

"Yes, miss. Thank you, miss."

On removal days miserable distinctions of class are invariably lost in
the large-heartedness of mutual endeavour.

It was while the trio were thus drinking tea together, standing, and, as
it were, with loins still girt after the pilgrimage, that the first
visitor to the new owners of Wilbraham Hall rang its great bell and
involved Georgiana in her first cer