"Your ma has sent for you."
"But she said she was coming right back."
"She's hurt, and she can't come, and she has sent for you. Don't cry, my dear."
"But how shall I know where to go, Nancy?"
"There's a kind gentleman at the door with a carriage. Your ma has been taken to his home."
The little girl began to cry once more.
"Oh! I'm afraid mamma's been killed," she said.
"No, she hasn't, or how could she send for you?"
This argument tended to reassure Althea, and she put on her little shawl and hat, and hurried down stairs.
Hartley was waiting for her impatiently, fearing that Mrs. Mordaunt would come back sooner than was anticipated, and so interfere with the fulfillment of his plans.