As long as they are living upon our land I feel as if they were in a sense our guests, and that it is our duty to welcome them." "Then we shall call to-morrow," said Bertha, with decision.
"Yes, dear, we shall.

But, oh, I wish it was over!" At four o'clock on the next day, the two maiden ladies set off upon their hospitable errand.

In their stiff, crackling dresses of black silk, with jet-bespangled jackets, and little rows of cylindrical grey curls drooping down on either side of their black bonnets, they looked like two old fashion plates which had wandered off into the wrong decade.

Half curious and half fearful, they knocked at the door of number three, which was instantly opened by a red-headed page-boy.
Yes, Mrs.Westmacott was at home.

He ushered them into the front room, furnished as a drawing-room, where in spite of the fine spring weather a large fire was burning in the grate.