It did not take long to remove their outdoor garments, and by the time they were ready, nurse had disappeared. It was not very plain to either of them whether they were to descend to regions unknown or to wait for a guide.
“Come along, Gretta,” said Margot. “We can’t stay here for ever. I believe that nurse-person took the others down; let’s go too.”
“Suppose they mean us to wait?” suggested Gretta, feeling somehow that the best thing, at first, would be to walk warily.
“Wait—how silly!” exclaimed her surprised cousin. “We’re ready, you see.” So, feeling dreadfully ill at ease, Gretta followed the independent Margot and, as neither of them was very sure whither they were bound, it was small wonder that in a very short time they were quite lost amidst the passages.
“Let’s try any door,” said Margot cheerily, “then, if anyone’s inside, we can ask them where we have to go! Fun, isn’t it?”
Gretta didn’t think so. She stood nervously by while her cousin turned the handle of the first door. It opened into a dormitory lined with white beds. So did the next, and the next. “Oh, come on,” said Margot, “we’ll be late for tea, and I’m hungry. Let’s go downstairs, and explore there.”
“But suppose there’s rules, or something?” objected Gretta.
“There couldn’t be a rule about such a stupid thing,” said her young cousin complacently. “How could there; this isn’t a prison!”
She had reached the bottom of the stairs by this time, and Gretta was behind her. The first door leading from the passage was shut.
“We’ll try this first,” said Margot. “It can’t be a bedroom, so we needn’t knock.” She turned the handle firmly as she spoke, and entered. A lady, who was engaged in writing busily at a table, looked up in surprise.