to, for you have no call above the second floor, where your rooms are.
But this is a special command. The house is yours, as I said, but that
means only this first floor and the one above it."

"Goodness me, Uncle Jeff!" said Alicia, "you needn't lay down the law
so hard! We're not absolute babes, to be so strictly cautioned and
forbidden! If you desire us not to go up the second flight of stairs,
of course we won't."

"That's right, my dear, don't. But I do lay it down as a law, and it
is the only law I shall impose on you. Except for that you can follow
out your own sweet wills."

"But," said Dotty, her dark eyes brilliant with the excitement of the
occasion, "I'm not always sure as to what is proper. I want to do just
what is right. Is it correct for us to go about alone, in your big
motor, with your chauffeur? Can we go to the art galleries and the
shops alone?"

"Bless my soul! I don't know." The big man looked absolutely helpless.
"Surely you must know such things yourselves. What do your mothers let
you do at home? Oh, well, if you're uncertain, ask Mrs. Berry, she'll
know. She's an all-round capable person, and she'll know all the
unwritten laws about chaperonage and such things. Do as she bids you."

This was satisfactory, and Dotty began at once to make plans for the
next day.

"Let's go to the Metropolitan Museum first," she said.