er face. Everything was so stupidly hard; no matter what she
tried or wanted to do--she ran up against a wall of pride. Her poor
little treasured money that she had kept in the heart-shaped box! If she
had had it in her hands then she would have thrown it into the fire.

Oh, for a chance to do something, give something that could not be
counted--and spurned--in dollars and cents!

CHAPTER XIX

GRANNY

Thoroughly exhausted by the nervous strain of the day before Robin slept
late. When she awakened it was to the alarming realization that Beryl
was not with her--her bed was empty, the room deserted, from the
bathroom came no sound of splashing water, with which Beryl usually
emphasized her morning dip.

The unhappy happenings of the evening just past flashed into Robin's
mind. Beryl had not even said good-night, had pretended to be asleep.
What if she had gone away from the Manor?

The thought was so upsetting that Robin dressed in frantic haste, paying
careful regard to her stockings, however, and tumbled down the stairs,
almost upsetting Harkness and a tray of breakfast.

"Where's Beryl?" she demanded.

"Miss Beryl's gone, Missy. She got up early and went off directly she
had breakfast."

"Did she--did she have a bag?" faltered poor Robin.

"Why, yes, Missy, she had that bag she come with 'near as I can
remember. Didn't she tell you she was going?"

"Well--not so early," Robin defended.

"If it's a quarrel, and young people fall out more times 'n not, Missy,
don't you feel badly. Miss Beryl'll be back here, mark my words! She's
smart enough to know when things are soft."

"Don't you ever, _ever_ say that again, Harkness! Beryl didn't want to
stay here in the first place. She's proud and she's fine and she had
ambitions that are grander than anything the rest of us ever dreamed of.
It's just because it _is_ soft here that she didn't want to stay. She
thought she wasn't really earning anything. I should think--" and oh,
how her voice flayed poor trembling Harkness, "I should think if you
_cared_ anything about me you'd be dreadfully sorry to have me left
alone here--"

"Now, Missy! Miss Robin! Old Harkness'll go straight down to the village
and bring Miss Beryl--"

Robin laid her hand on the old man's arm. "I just said that to punish
you. No, I'll be very lonesome here but I will _not_ send for Beryl.
We'll get along someway. If I only were not rich, everything would go
all right, wouldn't it, M