Ah! you are like all the rest of the girls in the
present day. Not one in a hundred of you knows which end of her's
uppermost."
The three ladies entered the morning-room; and Magdalen acknowledged
Miss Garth's reproof by banging the door.
Half an hour passed, and neither Mr. Vanstone nor his wife left the
breakfast-room. The servant, ignorant of what had happened, went in to
clear the table--found his master and mistress seated close together in
deep consultation--and immediately went out again. Another quarter of an
hour elapsed before the breakfast-room door was opened, and the private
conference of the husband and wife came to an end.
"I hear mamma in the hall," said Norah. "Perhaps she is coming to tell
us something."
Mrs. Vanstone entered the morning-room as her daughter spoke. The
color was deeper on her cheeks, and the brightness of half-dried tears
glistened in her eyes; her step was more hasty, all her movements were
quicker than usual.
"I bring news, my dears, which will surprise you," she said, addressing
her daughters. "Your father and I are going to London to-morrow."
Magdalen caught her mother by the arm in speechless astonishment.
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