“What was she like then?” asked Audrey quickly.
“Oh, I can’t tell you exactly what it was about her that we didn’t like, but she was hard and cold and repellant, even though she pretended to be delighted with us.”
“Who is this aunt? I didn’t know you had one!”
“Well, we did know just that, but we hadn’t seen her for so many years that we’d forgotten her. She’s papa’s sister.”
“Did she speak French or English?” asked Audrey.
The girls looked surprised.
“Oh, English, of course,” said Pamela.
Who then was this fresh personage, thought Audrey?
“So Miss Willett refused to let us go, saying we were not ready at such short notice, and our aunt went away. Then this morning Miss Willett brought us up to town and took us to papa’s flat in Victoria Street, but he wasn’t there. Three or four friends of his were waiting for him, and when we had been there a little while, Babs and I asked Miss Willett if we might get in a hansom and come here to see you. And at last she said yes, and so we came.”
“But my dear girls, what do you want me to do?”