"Come here, Marigold, and tell us what you have been doing. Did you find Mrs. Barker at home?"
"Yes, Aunt Mary; she was expecting us, you know. She seemed very glad to see us, and her parlour is such a nice little room—it is, really!" seeing a doubtful look on Miss Holcroft's face. "It is not so very much smaller than our sitting-room in London. Everything was so clean and tidy, you would have been delighted with it, Aunt Pamela."
Miss Pamela smiled as she inquired—
"Did you have tea?"
"Oh yes! At a little round table with the bunch of flowers I took from our garden in the centre. They looked beautiful, and quite scented the room. Mrs. Barker was so pleased with them. She has a little garden of her own, you know, and it is full of flowers, though not lilies or roses—ones that are cheap and easy to grow."
"Does she cultivate them herself?" Miss Pamela asked, with interest in her tone. "If so, perhaps she would like some roots from us. The lilies of the valley increase rapidly, and we could well spare her a few roots."
"I think she would be very glad to have them," Marigold replied.
"Perhaps I might go and see the old woman one of these days."
"Oh, do, Aunt Pamela! She loves having visitors, Barker says."
"We have had visitors in your absence, my dear," Miss Holcroft interposed at this point. "Now, I wonder if you can guess who they were."