They walked slowly to allow him to overtake them, meanwhile Lillian hastily informed her cousin that he had come down from London for sketching; that he was a cousin of Bertie's, and that he would certainly make his mark as his work had already been hung by the Royal Academy. His name, she said, was Harry Warren.
It naturally fell out that Anita should walk back with the young artist while Lillian and Bertie followed on behind. There were many nonsensical remarks tossed back and forth and before they reached Primrose Cottage Anita felt herself on a very friendly footing with them all. It was good to be again among those of her own age and speaking her own language, and there were few regrets for Spain that evening.
She was given her choice of sharing a room with her mother or with Lillian, and at the latter's urging decided to become her room-mate. "We should be excellent friends," remarked Lillian, as she stood before her mirror, briskly brushing her thick light hair. "You see we are much in the same boat. Neither of us has a father and we were neither of us born in England."
"I am afraid the fact of my not having been will work against me with Aunt Manning," replied Anita, ruefully. "Why is she so terribly down on Spain?"
"Haven't you discovered the reason? It is because of your mother. Granny was devoted to her sister, your grandmother, and to your mother as well, so she cannot forgive your father for making them both unhappy, and since she cannot wreak her vengeance on him she takes it out on Spain itself, and especially upon the two whom she considers the most deserving of abuse. She really gets a great deal of satisfaction out of it, a sort of vicarious punishment, as it were. Poor, dear Granny; you will have to be very enthusiastic about England if you want to please her."
"I shall not have to try," returned Anita, "for I really feel enthusiastic. Isn't Mr. Kirkby an old dear?"
"He is most delightful. He is another cause of Granny's feeling of ill-will toward your father. She wanted Cousin Katharine to marry Mr. Kirkby and believes that she might have done so but for your father. So you see she has a double grudge."
"I understand, and am glad you have unravelled the mystery. I couldn't understand why she was so dreadfully down on Spain."
Lillian tossed her thick braid of hair over her shoulder, and snuggled down at the foot of the bed to watch her cousin's preparations for the night. They grew more and more confidential, though neither spoke of the one nearest her heart, although the last thought of Anita was given to her lost lover, while a vision of Bertie Sargent slipped from a remembrance into a dream of Lillian's.