"A lady to see me!" said Margaret, with surprise; then thinking that it might be one of the residents, who had come to pay her the compliment of a call she said, quickly:
"Oh, I am very sorry. Will you say I am not at home, please, Mrs. Day? But are you sure she wishes to see me?—it is so unlikely."
"Yes, she wants to see you, ma'am. She said Mrs. Stanley quite distinctly. And it's no use saying not at home, because she saw you at the window."
Margaret smiled at the unsophistication which was not familiar with the conventional white lie.
"By not at home I mean that I don't want to see her," she said. "She will understand, I think, Mrs. Day."
"Very well, ma'am," said Mrs. Day, and she went out. She was back again in a couple of minutes, however.
"The lady says she has come a great distance on purpose to see you, and begs that you will see her, if only for five minutes, ma'am," she said.
Margaret changed color. Could it be her grandmother?
"Is—is it an old lady?" she asked.
"No, ma'am, quite young, I should think; she has kept her veil down. I'll send her away if you like, ma'am; after all, she sha'n't bother you if you don't want to see her, though she be so pleading."