Presently footsteps sounded in the empty hall, and an old colored woman carrying a lighted candle opened the door and peered at them curiously.
“Mammy, will you look after these ladies, please? They will wait here until I can get a motor car from the hotel. Our boat was wrecked a while ago.”
“Come right in, ladies,” said the old colored woman, leading the way into a large almost empty room at one side of the hall.
A grand piano stood at the end. On the walls a few old portraits were half visible in the flickering candlelight. At one side was a long mahogany sofa covered with faded tapestry, and the only other piece of furniture in the immense apartment was a small supper table set for one.
“I’ll jes’ go up and fetch little Missy, Marse Edward,” whispered Mammy, while the others strolled about looking at the portraits and Elinor touched a soft chord on the piano.
CHAPTER VI.—THE GRAY MOTOR CAR.
It was not long before the door opened and a young girl bearing a lighted candle in each hand entered the room.
“This is my sister, Virginia,” said Edward l’Estrange, introducing her to Miss Campbell.
Billie could hardly conceal her surprise, and Nancy, who always forgot not to speak out, was about to exclaim: “Why, it’s the little chambermaid,” when a reminding nudge from Elinor stopped her.
It was indeed the little chambermaid, although the fluffy pale gold hair was no longer tucked in a knot under the maid’s cap, but hung in a shining mass down her back and was caught at the neck with a pink ribbon. Virginia was like a charming woman of the world. Her manners were so gracious and easy that they began to feel at home at once in the ghostly old place.