In reply, Oliver Jupp held up the six bits of cardboard for his sister's satisfaction, and the party settled themselves in their seats; the maid-servant, who was Mrs. Lake's, entering last.
"Why, Elizabeth, is that you?" exclaimed Miss Jupp. "I declare I never saw you."
"Didn't you, miss?" replied the girl, who was very tall and thin. "I walked behind you from our house."
"I thought it better to bring Elizabeth," interposed Clara Lake, who was looking unusually lovely in her summer dress--white muslin with a blue sprig upon it. "Mrs. Chester's servants will be glad of help with so many of us to wait upon."
"Mrs. Chester is the best manager of a house I ever saw," cried the Miss Jupps in a breath. They wore alpaca gowns of very light green, and hats trimmed with velvet. "Fancy!" added Margaret, "only two servants, and one of those you may almost call a nurse, for the children require plenty of attending to, and yet things seem to go on smoothly. I can't think how she contrives it."
"Trust to Mrs. Chester for contriving," said Mr. Lake. "She has to do it. Besides, you forget Anna."
The carriage held eight. Elizabeth sat at the farther end, the seat next to her and the seat opposite to her being empty. She kept her head close to the open window, looking out. Railway travelling was rare in her experience. The rest chatted eagerly, giving themselves up to the pleasure of the moment. Something was said about the previous day's sojourn at Guild.
"I hear it was a delightful party," Mrs. Lake remarked to Oliver Jupp.
"We wanted you and Lake to complete it," he answered. "It was too bad, Mrs. Lake, to declare off, after having promised to go. There was an uncommon nice girl spending the day there. She's to be there again today, I fancy."
"Who was that?" inquired Mr. Lake, briskly, who had a propensity for liking "nice girls."