There was a rustle against the sofa outside, a light and quick step moved away.
"Cara!" whispered Malvina.
"For her as well as for ourselves there is need to end this position at the earliest," said Irene, with a sudden frown.
It was Cara; she had left the door of her mother's room with drooping head, with a great frown on her forehead, and no thought for the little dog, tugging at her skirt as usual. Half an hour before, when Maryan and Miss Mary had risen from chess, she rose, too, pushed her hand under her brother's arm and said:
"I have something to say to you."
Her seriousness was so evident that Maryan answered, with a smile:
"If your speech is to be as solemn as your face is we shall have little joy. What have you to tell me?"
Without answering she led him through the blue drawing-room to the next one more faintly lighted. Here she halted, looked around, and, seeing only inanimate objects, asked:
"Why have you quarrelled with father?"
This question in her mouth astonished him, and he asked in turn: