“this is delightful!” sydney cried, as she sat down beside the bright fire in the pretty bedroom near katharine’s, which had been allotted to her at the deanery. “it is quite too lovely of you to ask me, and it is quite too lovely of them to let me come! i never thought i should be allowed to, and lady frederica said ‘no’ at first, and i mustn’t go visiting because of not being ‘out’; but st. quentin stood by me, and said everyone had holidays at christmas-time, and i should go if i wanted. you can guess how much i did want; even now it seems too good to be true!”

“well, i am very pleased to have you, dear,” katharine said, smiling across at the girl, “though i wish it were for longer than two days. there is so much i want to hear. i miss the calisthenic class now that there are christmas holidays for everybody. how did

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you spend christmas, and how is your cousin?”

“i hoped he might be better because he didn’t seem getting worse,” sydney said a little sadly; “but dr. lorry doesn’t seem to think so. he says st. quentin must get weaker, and that it is only his splendid constitution makes him fight so long.”

there was silence for a few minutes in the pretty room.

“well, you haven’t told me yet how you spent christmas?” katharine asked, rousing herself with an effort.

“sir algernon was with us——” began sydney, but was interrupted.

“whom did you say?”

“sir algernon bridge; he is a friend, i think, of cousin st. quentin’s.”