They all went to the window to see if there was anything left of the Hall. All they could see was some smoke coming up through the trees; no part of the house was visible.
"Fancy!" said Freda. "If it's burnt up, all our toys and clothes and story-books will be gone. What shall we do?"
"We might live in a caravan in the park till it's built up again!" said Daffy joyously.
"Oh, Nurse will simply tear us back to London! I know she will," said Freda.
"No; you'll stay here. We'll squeeze in beautifully, and if there's no room for the H.D. she can go to London and leave you here."
Annette and Nurse both appeared now at the door. Nurse looked quite old and shaken. Poor Nurse! All night she had lain awake wondering if it had been her fault—whether there had been any matches half-lighted that she put in with the fireworks so hurriedly.
Annette took Dreamikins off to be dressed. Freda and Daffy eagerly asked Nurse for news.
"It's the nursery wing that is burnt. They stopped the fire before it got to the rest of the house, but the library below the nursery is very much damaged. They saved the pictures and some of the books, but a great many of them are destroyed."
"Oh, if it's only those old books!" said Freda. "Mums will never read them, nor shall we, so it doesn't matter. Nurse, what shall we do now? And is our toy cupboard burnt?"
"Be quiet now, and don't worry me with questions. I've a splitting headache, and what your mother will say I don't know. It's a mercy we weren't burnt in our beds!"