Lo and behold—Cousin Felicity had vanished.
"I will thank her again when we meet downstairs," thought the girl, little imagining that this was not to be.
Just then the door behind her opened, and Paulina, her eyes still but half-awake, peeped out.
"Oh, child," she said, "is it late? You up and dressed already! I must hurry."
"There is plenty of time," Clodagh replied. "It is still early."
"How well and bright you look!" Paulina exclaimed. "You must have slept well. So unlike my last travelling companion—that silly Pélagie—not of course, dear, that I mean to compare you with a maid-servant—but the airs she gave herself! She could never sleep the first night in a strange place, nor the last, because she was nervous about the pack——Oh," she broke off, "I see you've got rid of all the old bags and bandboxes. What a good thing! I didn't know you had such a nice sensible trunk, so neat, and just like mine."