"That is what I want to do; but I never have," replied Katharine. The other two looked at her pityingly.
"Any friends in London?" they asked.
"Only relations; and they won't help me."
"Of course not. Relations never do. Hope you'll get some work," said the shorthand clerk dubiously. Katharine changed the conversation, to hide her own growing apprehension.
"Where are the newspapers?" she asked, looking round.
"In the prospectus; never saw them anywhere else!" said Phyllis, with a short laugh.
"Did you expect to find any?" asked Polly Newland. "They all do," she added gravely. "It's like the baths, and the boots, and everything else."
"Surely, the bath-room is not a fallacy?" exclaimed Katharine in dismay.
"Oh, there is one down in the basement; but all the water has to be boiled for it, so only three people can have a bath every evening. You have to put your name down in a book; and your turn comes in about a fortnight."
"And the boots?" said Katharine, suppressing a sigh.