"Oh yes!" Angel responded, "of course I will!"
It was impossible to be shy with the sisters long. They asked her dozens of questions, which she answered readily; and found herself putting questions to them in return. She looked around their bedroom with interested eyes—at the two little white beds side by side, the pretty pictures on the walls, and the ornaments, which she was told had been mostly birthday presents—and openly admired everything she saw. Dinah and Dora evidently had great pride in their room; they informed her they made the beds themselves, and took it in turns to do the dusting. "Jane, that is our housemaid, has so much work that mother likes us to help her all we can," Dinah said in her matter-of-fact way; "there's plenty to do in this house, there always is where there are boys about. Tom is dreadfully untidy, and always forgets to wipe his boots thoroughly before he comes upstairs, and brings such a lot of grit into the place. Is your brother like that?"
"Yes," Angel answered, smiling, "and Mrs. Steer does get so cross with him!"
"Who is Mrs. Steer?" Dora inquired.
"Our landlady. We live in lodgings, not in a house of our own."
"Oh, I should not like that at all!" Dora cried.
"Because you are not accustomed to lodgings," Dinah put in quickly. She turned to Angel and asked, "Is your brother older than you are?"
"No, younger," Angel replied. "He is very clever, and has such a lot of friends. Every one likes Gerald."
Once set going on her favourite topic of conversation, her brother, she found a great deal to say. She told how many prizes he had won at school, and how proud her father was of him.
"Did you ever win a prize?" Dora asked, much interested.