lower rank of life would have been called gruff; but that was not a
word to apply to Lady Cuxhaven, the eldest daughter of the earl and
countess. The other lady looked much younger, but she was in fact some
years the elder; at first sight Molly thought she was the most
beautiful person she had ever seen, and she was certainly a very lovely
woman. Her voice, too, was soft and plaintive, as she replied to Lady
Cuxhaven,--

'Poor little darling! she is overcome by the heat, I have no doubt--
such a heavy straw bonnet, too. Let me untie it for you, my dear.'

Molly now found voice to say,--'I am Molly Gibson, please. I came here
with the Miss Brownings;' for her great fear was that she should be
taken for an unauthorized intruder.

'The Miss Brownings?' said Lady Cuxhaven to her companion, as if
inquiringly.

'I think they were the two tall large young women that Lady Agnes was
taking about.'

'Oh, I dare say. I saw she had a number of people in tow;' then looking
again at Molly, she said, 'Have you had anything to eat, child, since
you came? You look a very white little thing; or is it the heat?'

'I have had nothing to eat,' said Molly, rather piteously; for, indeed,
before she fell asleep she had been very hungry.

The two ladies spoke to each other in a low voice; then the elder said
in a voice of authority, which, indeed, she had always used in speaking