Fanny hastily dashed away her tears. Then she said, after a pause, “Is it fixed that they are to come?”
“Yes, it is quite fixed.”
“Miss Symes, you took me at first by surprise, but when the Vivians arrive you will see that I shall treat them with the affection due to cousins of my own; also, that I will do my utmost to make them happy.”
“I am sure of it, my love. You are a very plucky girl!”
“And you won’t tell Mrs. Haddo that I seemed distressed at the thought of their coming?”
“Do you really wish me not to tell her?”
“I do, most earnestly.”
“Now, Fanny, I am going to trust you. Mrs. Haddo has been more or less driven into a corner over this matter. Your dear, kind father has been suddenly left in sole charge of those three young girls. He could not take them to India with him, and he had no home to offer them in this country. Mrs. Haddo, therefore, contrary to her wont, has agreed to receive them without the personal interview which she has hitherto thought essential.”
Fanny smiled. “Oh, can I ever forget that interview when my turn came to receive it? I was at once more frightened and more elated than I believed it possible for any girl to be. I loved Mrs. Haddo on the spot, and yet I shook before her.”
“But you don’t fear her now, dear?”