"She will not be hurt at your parting with her present?" asked Miss Basset.
"I am sure she will not! Oh, Aunt Ann, think of that poor little baby with no father—" Josephine broke down suddenly, and burst into tears.
[CHAPTER IV]
SUNDAY AT THE GLEN
"DONALD, you haven't told me yet what you think of Josephine. Do you like her?"
May was the speaker. It was the afternoon of Josephine's first Sunday at the Glen, a wet afternoon with a chill wind blowing; and the twins, who had the drawing-room to themselves, were seated one on either side of the fire. Donald had been reading, but he flung aside his book as his sister spoke, and answered—
"Don't know—haven't made up my mind."
"She isn't a bit like what Aunt Ann and Uncle John expected. They both imagined she'd be very sad and unhappy, thinking of her father, you know, and being all amongst strangers; but she isn't, is she? This morning I said to her, I wondered where her father was and what he was doing, and she said, 'Yes, I wonder!' but she didn't seem to be troubling about him. And do you know, she told me when we got back from church that she'd had a most enjoyable morning!"
Miss Basset had driven to church, as she usually did, but May and Josephine had walked with Mr. Basset. Donald had not been to church at all since his accident; he might have accompanied Miss Basset had he cared to do so.
"I don't know, I'm sure, why it should have been so enjoyable," May continued, "for we had a heavy shower on our way to church, and, as you know, the rain came on in torrents on our way home, so that we were simply drenched. By the by, there were a lot of soldiers in church, and we had a sermon all about fighting."