Mrs. Hazleby would be mortally offended; and
when we came to reckon, it appeared that there would be thirteen
without us, and then Papa and I persuaded her, that it would be much
less uncivil to leave out all the Misses, than to take one and leave
the rest. You know Anne and I are both under seventeen yet, so that
nobody will expect to see us.'

'Only thirteen people?' said Katherine; 'I thought the Bishop was to
dine and sleep here.'

'Oh no, that was settled long ago; Papa found he had engaged to go to
Marlowe Court,' said Elizabeth, 'and so there was room for the
Hazlebys; I hoped he would have guarded us from them.'

'But will there be room?' said Katherine; 'I cannot fancy it.'

'Oh! half the rooms can be made Knight's Templar's horses and carry
double,' said Elizabeth; 'Mrs. Hazleby and both the girls may very well
be in the blue room.'

'And there is the best room for the Mertons, and Horace's for Rupert,'
said Katherine.

'Poor Horace! it is a shame that he, who laid the first stone, should
not be at the Consecration,' said Elizabeth.

'Well, but where is Anne to be?' said Katherine; 'if we take Dora into
our room, and Winifred goes to the nursery, there is their room; but
Aunt Anne's maid must have that.'

'Anne shall come to my room--if Aunt Anne will let her, that is to
say,' said Elizabeth; 'I wonder I never thought of that before, it will
counteract some of the horrors of the Hazlebys. I shall have the
comfort of talking things over with the only person who knows what to
feel. Yes, I will go and speak to Mamma, and shew her that it is the
only way of lodging the world conveniently. Oh, how happy we shall be!'

As soon as Elizabeth had finished winding her skein, she hastened to
Mrs. Woodbourne, and found no great difficulty in gaining her consent
to the plan; and she then sat down to write to Miss Merton to inform
her of the change of day, and invite her to share her room.

Elizabeth Woodbourne and Anne Merton were first cousins, and nearly of
the same age. They had spent much of their time together in their
childhood, and their early attachment to each other, strengthening as
they grew older, was now becoming something more than girlish
affection. Anne was an only daughter; and Elizabeth, though the eldest
of a large family, had not hitherto found any of her sisters able to
enter into her feelings as fully as her cousin; and perhaps there was
no one who had so just an appreciation of El