"She will be here directly, Mother," Dick said, as his aunt gave the necessary directions for the bed to be prepared, and a dish of rice and strong gravy. "She is very nervous, and I am sure it will be best if you will meet her, when she arrives, and take her straight to her room."
"That is what I was going to do, Dick," his mother said, with a smile. "Well, I will go down with you, at once."
Two or three minutes later, the cart entered the courtyard. Mrs. Holland was on the steps. Dick ran down, and helped Annie from the cart. The girl was trembling violently.
"Don't be afraid, Annie," Dick whispered, as he lifted her down. "Here is my mother, waiting to receive you.
"This is the young lady," he went on cheerfully, as he turned to his mother. "I promised her a warm welcome, in your name."
Mrs. Holland had already come down the steps, and as the girl turned towards her, she took her in her arms, and kissed her in motherly fashion.
"Welcome, indeed," she said. "I will be a mother to you, poor child, till I can hand you over to your own. I thank God for sending you to me. It will be a comfort to me to know that, even if my son should never bring my husband back to me, he has at least succeeded in rescuing one victim from Tippoo, and in making one family happy."
The girl clung to her, crying softly.
"Oh, how good you all are!" she sobbed. "It seems too much happiness to be true."
"It is quite true, dear. Come with me. We will go up the private stairs, and I will put you straight to bed in my room, and no one else shall see you, or question you, until you are quite recovered from your fatigue."