She went in, and found herself in a tiny passage of spotless cleanliness; and, her baggage having been set down beside her, the door was closed, and the crowd which had accompanied them across the street melted away.
“Oh! thank you,” said Joan. “What do I owe you?”
“Threepence, my dear; it is a penny too much, but I would not stop to argue with the man.”
Joan fumbled in her pocket and found the threepence.
“Thank you, my dear. I am glad to see that you pay your debts so readily. It is a good sign, but, alas! appearances are often deceptive;” and her hostess led the way into a small parlour, beautifully neat and well kept. “Sit down,” said the little woman, lifting a dress that she was in process of making from a chair which she offered to Joan, “and take a cup of tea. I was just going to have some myself. Bobby, will you be quiet?” This last remark was addressed to a canary, which was singing at the top of its voice in a cage that hung in the window. “I am afraid that you find him rather shrill,” she went on, nodding towards the canary, “but I have so much to do with silence that I don’t mind the noise.”
“Not at all: I like birds,” said Joan.
“I am glad of that, my dear, for my name is Bird. Quite a coincidence, isn’t it?—not but what coincidences are deceptive things. And now, here is your tea.”
Joan took the tea and drank it thankfully, while Mrs. Bird watched her.
“My dear, you are very handsome,” she said at length, “if you will forgive me for making a personal remark— dreadfully handsome. I am sure that, being so handsome, you cannot be happy, since God does not give us everything; and I only hope that you are good. You look good, or I should not have come to help you just now; but it is impossible to put any trust in appearances.”
“I am afraid that I am neither very happy nor very good,” answered Joan, “but I am most grateful to you. I have come up from the country to look for work, and I want to find a decent lodging. Perhaps you can help me, for I have never been in London before, and do not know where to go. My name is Joan Haste.”