Miss Clotilda had some difficulty the next morning in persuading them to go for a walk early and not to set to work till later.
'It will be very hot this afternoon,' she said. 'Indeed, I think there is thunder not far off. You will have a nice quiet time for getting to work after dinner, and I will look out the old pincushions this morning.'
They set off, though rather reluctantly, for Kathie, now that she had taken up the idea, was more full of it than even Philippa. And she was much less ready than Philippa to yield her wishes and opinions to those of others.
It did not rain that afternoon, but, as Miss Clotilda had foreseen, it was very hot. And the children, all three—for Neville too seemed bitten by the pincushion mania—found it very pleasant to sit round a table in the nice cool library, busy with their work.
There was not much they could do at first beyond unpicking and measuring. Miss Clotilda had given them two of the pincushions out of the cupboard, and, as Philippa had foreseen, when they came to take them carefully to pieces, they found that there would really be more work to do than they had expected.
'What patience Mrs. Wynne must have had,' said Kathie, 'to do them so beautifully! Did you ever see anything so neat? Just look at the hemming of this frill, Phil.'
Philippa took it up to admire.
'We might hem our frills this afternoon,' she said, 'and then to-morrow, when we have the silk from Hafod, we can go on with the linings.'
'I do hope to-morrow will be a wet day,' said Kathie. 'We could get on so splendidly if it were.'