"She said it was my grandmother," answered Carrie, doubtfully.

"This grandmother? The one you call Granny?"

"I don't know. You see, Mrs. Higgs never turned up till about ten months
ago, long after Miss Aldridge had died. She died the Christmas before
last."

"And how did you get to the hotel?"

"I had to do something. Miss Aldridge had only her annuity. I had done
everything for her, except the very hardest work, that she wouldn't let
me do; and when she died, suddenly, I had to find some way of living.
And somebody knew of the hotel. So I went."

"Where was it?"

"Oh, not so very far from here. It was a dreadful place. They treated me
fairly well because I am quick at accounts, so I was useful. But, oh, it
wasn't a place for a girl at all."

"But why didn't you get a better one? Anything would have been better,
surely, than coming here, to live like this!"

Max was earnest, impassioned even. The girl smiled mournfully as she
just caught his eyes for a moment, and then looked at the fire again.

"You don't understand," she said, simply. "How should you? I should have
had no reference to give if I had wanted another situation. The name of
the place where I had been living would have been worse than none."