"I have brought a list of the things that the children want."
"Do they want anything? They had new coats and hats the day you came," said Mrs. Lancing.
She took the paper that Caroline handed her, and read it aloud.
"Stockings, nightgowns, flannels, shoes. Dear child! of course they shall have these things. But are they so badly off?"
Caroline nodded her head.
"Yes; I have put everything together for you to see," she said. "I have only written down what is absolutely necessary."
"Now, isn't that shocking, Dennis?" said Camilla, with a note of desperation in her voice. "Doesn't it make you want to shake nurse? ... What did she do with the things? She must have eaten them."
"I've gone carefully through every drawer and every box," said Caroline, "and I cannot find any good clothes put away."
"Let me think." Mrs. Lancing sat and puckered her brows. Dennis had put on an expression that said as plainly as words that these things would have been set right a long time ago if only she had been given the authority to attend to them.
"You had better go to ... No!" said Camilla, checking herself without mentioning the name, "you can't go there. I owe them quite a lot already, and that other shop in Regent Street, they, too, are rather nasty about their bill. I'll tell you what, I will give you some ready money, and then you had better go and buy just what is actually required. What do you suppose these will all come to? Dennis, you are good at this sort of thing, you might help Miss Graniger. Dear sweethearts, fancy not having a stocking, or a decent petticoat." She caught her breath with a sigh. "I am afraid I am not a very good mother."