And the prim and practical matron grew more and more fond of her.

The girl came to be considered, and almost to consider herself, one of the family.

The "family" consisted of Mrs.Wyeth, Mary, Miss Pease, the other "paying guest," and Maggie, the maid, and Nora, the cook.

Miss Pease was an elderly spinster without near relatives, possessed of an income and a love of travel which she gratified by occasional European trips.

She and her closest friend, Mrs.Wyeth, disagreed on many subjects, but they united in the belief that Boston was a suburb of Paradise and that William Ellery Channing was the greatest of religious leaders.