sofa. Oh, have you come in already, children?"--as the two boys peeped
in. "Couldn't Jane have kept you out a little longer! Don't attempt to
come in here!"

"Jane had to come back to lay the cloth. Mamma, where is aunty?"

"She has not come in yet. Why, dear me, it is nearly one o'clock! Go and
get off your boots, my darlings, and ask grandmamma when she expects
aunty."

Mrs. Liddell did not know when Katherine might return, and, moreover,
she was getting uneasy. She did not like to say much about her errand,
for she knew her daughter-in-law thought but indifferently of her
writings, and with an indescribable "crass" dislike of what she could
not do herself, would have been rather pleased than otherwise to know
that a manuscript had been rejected.

In looking over one of the drawers in her writing-table Mrs. Liddell had
found that Katherine had left the shorter story behind. This rendered
her prolonged absence less accountable, for she could have interviewed
several publishers of three-volume novels in the time. The poor lady
naturally feared that they must have refused even to look at her work,
or Katherine would have returned.

When dinner was over, and four o'clock came, Mrs. Liddell's anxiety rose
high; she could not bear her daughter-in-law's presence, and retired
into her own den.

"Won't you stay and see Colonel Ormonde? He used to be quite friendly
with poor Fred in India, and I should like him to see what a nice