"My dears," said the mother, "you should not have put her in such a
condition; could you not have been more careful?"

Kate expected one of them to say, "She would do it in spite of us;"
but instead of that Fanny only answered, "It is not so bad as it
looks, Mamma; I believe her frock is quite safe; and we will soon
have her face and hands clean."

Whereupon Kate turned round and said, "It is all my fault, and
NOBODY'S ELSE'S. They told me not, but it was such fun!"

And therewith she obeyed a pull from Grace, and ran upstairs with the
party to be washed; and as the door shut behind them, Lord de la Poer
said, "You need not be afraid of THAT likeness, Barbara. Whatever
else she may have brought from her parsonage, she has brought the
spirit of truth."

Though knowing that something awful hung over her head, Kate was all
the more resolved to profit by her brief minutes of enjoyment; and
the little maidens all went racing and flying along the passages
together; Kate feeling as if the rapid motion among the other young
feet was life once more.

"Well! your frock is all right; I hope your aunt will not be very
angry with you," said Adelaide. (She know Adelaide now, for Grace
was the inky one.)

"It is not a thing to be angry for," added Grace.