"It's Jane!" exclaimed the group in concert.
"Show her up at once, Susan," said Lady Agatha, with a graciousness which allayed poor Susan's fears. "Children," she added, turning to her attentive offspring, "you must remember that our dear Jane is quite an heiress now."
Gwendolen put up a haughty lip. "I don't want her here, even if she is," she said disagreeably.
"Of course you don't!" crowed Percy. "Jane's a beauty and you aren't!"
"Percy—my son!" exclaimed Lady Agatha warningly, and swept forward to greet the small, slight, bright-eyed person who entered the room escorted by the broadly smiling Susan.
"My dear Jane!" murmured Lady Agatha, enfolding the little figure in her voluminous embrace. "How we have suffered since your cruel desertion of us!"
"I suppose it must have annoyed you, Aunt Agatha," said Jane sweetly. "But it couldn't be helped, you see."
Then she turned to the two boys, who had greeted her vociferously, and to Gwendolen, who sulkily offered a cheek to be kissed.
The girl's bright eyes were misty and she trembled a little as she looked from one to the other. English sights and sounds and faces had never seemed so delightful, yet she was no less determined upon leaving them all for the land of her adoption.