Honor sighs and brushes away a tear. "I was thinking," she says, "of some of the last words my dear father ever spoke. He said he would give the very coat from off his back if that would be of any use."
"If it would be of any use," repeated the old gentleman kindly; "but would it, my dear? would it? You must not allow your proper judgment to be run away with by your feeling—through an exaggerated feeling—of justice."
"Exactly what I was going to observe," says Lady Woodhouse with a jerk of her bonnet-strings. "You are your father's child all over, Honor; and I will say this of you: you are conscientious almost to a fault, and so was he, poor man. You can, I am sure, take the £70 a year with a clear conscience; so for goodness' sake let us hear no more about it. You have yet to learn what a mere drop in the ocean it will be when you come to try living on it—and that at once. Now do, girls, let us be plain and business-like, and give up talking nonsense. I have only an hour before I must return to the Pagets', and I have promised to have a cup of tea with your mother before I go, so that we can make our final arrangements for the journey to-morrow. Now, I understand that there is a certain amount of furniture in the house which belongs to your mother. I'm afraid it's not much; but still it is better than nothing. Where is it?"
"There is some in the school-room," answer the girls together, "and the rest is in the nurseries." And Honor adds despondently:
"I'm afraid there are not more than two beds."
"Well—now this is what I want you to do, Honor. Mr. Trent, I understand, has most kindly invited you and Miss Denison, while she is with you, to go and stay with him and Mrs. Trent for a little while. Now I want you while you are there to make out a list of what else is absolutely necessary in the way of furniture and send it to me. Mr. Hobson, it appears, has very kindly been looking at the advertisements of houses, and he tells me he has brought one or two to show you, which might, perhaps, be worth answering. He will, I feel sure, give you all the advice and help that he can in this matter. I am thankful, too, that good Miss Denison will be with you a little while longer, for I know what a comfort she will be to you; and if you are in any doubt or perplexity on any point you must go to her, Honor; she will give you the best and wisest advice."
"I shall indeed look forward to being of some use to Honor while I am with her," says Miss Denison; "and you may rest assured, dear Lady Woodhouse, that I shall do all in my power to help her and the rest of my young charges in settling and arranging all that has to be done."
"You are a good, kind creature," exclaims Lady Woodhouse impulsively, "and these girls ought to be grateful to you for the way in which you have brought them up. I always told my sister that if any of them turned out well she would have you to thank for it. Now, Honor, I must go. See that your mother and the two girls are ready when I call in the morning. You know Mr. Paget cannot bear to have his horses kept waiting a moment; and I'm sure I don't want to be the cause of their taking cold. You will have all the rest of the packing to see to with Lane after we have gone."
"O, our packing will not take long," replies Honor, "with Miss Denny and Lane to help us."
"Not take long, child! Why, what can you be thinking about? Your mother's wardrobe will be something to get together and pack."