"I thought you would like to occupy the same bedroom," said Mrs. John, glancing from mother to daughter, "more especially as you are to be parted so soon."
"Very, very soon!" sighed Mavis, mournfully.
"What a pretty room this is!" exclaimed mother, looking around with an appreciative smile. "I like that old-fashioned mahogany bed, and the window-seat; and how nice to be able to indulge in a white counterpane and white curtains! In London, in the part where we have been living, they would be drab in no time. It is very kind of you to spare Mavis such a beautiful room."
"Yes, indeed," Mavis said earnestly; "I shall put my desk on that table by the window, and there I shall write my letters to you, mother, and—" Her voice faltered, and the sentence ended in an involuntary sob.
"I hope you will be happy with us, I'm sure," said Mrs. John, her heart touched by the little girl's emotion. "You must call me 'Aunt Lizzie,'" she added.
"Yes, Aunt Lizzie," Mavis replied, her face brightening. "Oh," she cried, as her gaze wandered out of the window, "what a lovely view!"
It was, indeed. For in the distance lay Oxford in the mellow autumn sunshine. The spires and towers of the grand old university town standing out against a background of pale-blue sky. Whilst nearer was a green stretch of meadow-lands through which the river made its way.
"Yes, it is very lovely," her mother agreed. Then, as their hostess left the room, she continued, "I am so very glad I could come with you, for now I shall be able to picture everything as it really is. It seems a dear old house, and I am sure we have been given a hearty welcome. Now let us be quick and remove the traces of our journey; your aunt said tea would be ready in a few minutes."
Mavis was a trifle shy with her cousins at first, and greatly disappointed them, after tea, by saying that she would prefer to remain with her mother in the parlour to going into the garden with them. Bob, who was her junior by a year, regarded her rather scornfully; but Rose, being older, was better able to understand her cousin's feelings, and whispered to her brother—
"Never mind, Bobbie, she'll like to play with us when her mother's gone; of course she wants to stay with Aunt Margaret now. Wouldn't you want to stay with mother if she was going away next week for months and months?"