Sir Thomas stood Merrylips upon a great chair in the middle of the room.
"And who is there here that knoweth this lad?" he cried.
Before Merrylips could be quite sure of the presence in which she found herself, a slender gentlewoman rose from her seat by the fire. Her brown hair was thickly streaked with gray, and she had the kindest smile in the world.
"Merrylips! My little Merrylips!" she said in a breathless voice, and stretched out her arms.
Thus Merrylips and Lady Sybil found each other again. They were laughing and crying and asking questions long before the others in the parlor had taken breath. But soon Merrylips found them all thronging round her.
Here was her mother, grave and careful as ever, who was glad to see her, but not over-pleased at her dress. And indeed, for a little girl who had been sent away to receive such nurture as became a maid, Merrylips had come home in strange attire.
Here was sister Puss, who was a tall young gentlewoman now, and fairer even than Betteris or Allison Fowell. Here was Pug, who was rosier and rounder than ever. If you will believe it, she was hemming a napkin, just as Merrylips remembered her, for all the world as if she had come out of A Garland of Virtuous Dames!
And here, too, was Merrylips' own maid, Mawkin, who was waiting upon the gentlewomen. She hugged Merrylips harder than any, and blubbered aloud with joy that she had come safe home at last.
Hardly had the women begun exclaiming over Merrylips, when in came more company. Her brother, Longkin, came in his lieutenant's dress. He was grown such a fine young gallant that Merrylips found it hard to believe that he had ever done such an undignified thing as to romp with his brothers on the terrace. After Longkin, Flip came running. He was all legs and arms, and he squeezed Merrylips as if she were a bear or another boy.
"And oh! Flip," she heard her own voice saying, "I ha' been to the wars, for all I am but a wench! I ha' been in a siege, and fired upon a many times, and chased by the enemy, and a prisoner among the Roundheads. And thou, what battles hast thou been fighting, Flip?"