The two elder ladies had left the parlor and retreated to a small apartment on the right of the hall, called the den, and fitted up with some Eastern hangings and a divan.

Upon this divan Anna Carroll had thrown herself, and lay quite still upon her back, her slender length extended, staring out of the window directly opposite at the spread of a great oak just lately putting forth its leaves.

Mrs.
Carroll was standing beside her, and she looked at the two girls entering with a hard expression in her usually soft eyes.
"Why have you been crying ?" she asked, directly, of Ina.

Her hair was in disorder, as if she had thrust her fingers through it.

It was pushed far off from her temples, making her look much older.