more new suggestions made to her, and when Caroline asked for a
latch-key as a matter of course, she replied stiffly: "I'm sorry, but I
could not think of such a thing, Caroline. I must say I rather wonder
at your asking it. Your aunt Ellen----"

"Aunt Ellen lived in different times," said Caroline, flushing and
throwing up her head. "I am going to a dance with my boy at the
Promenade Hall, and it doesn't finish till twelve. I didn't want you
to sit up so late for me, that was all."

Miss Ethel also flushed a little on her thin cheekbones, while the left
side of her face twitched a little as it did when she was agitated; but
that was all the sign she gave of the tumult of irritation, impatience
and hurt pride which surged within her. That Ellen's niece should dare
to speak to her like that! Still, she knew that she was worn out and
could not go on doing all the work of the house, and they would never
get anyone else to help them who would be as cheap and respectable as
Caroline; so she must put up with it. By a great effort, she managed
to control her temper and to say, almost agreeably: "Does Mrs. Creddle
know you are going to this dance with a young man?"

"Of course she does," said Caroline, still rather defiant. "I'm not
ashamed of it. There's nothing between me and Wilf that I should want
to hide from Aunt Creddle."

For without knowing it, Miss Ethel had touched upon a delicate point
which Caroline was far more sensitive about than Laura--for
instance--would have been; because girls of Caroline's sort have to
guard their chastity themselves, while those like Laura are careless,
because it has always been guarded for them by somebody else. Still
Miss Ethel saw that Caroline was offended, so added after a pause: "If
Mrs. Creddle approves of your going, of course it is not my affair.
But you must see for yourself that I could not let a girl under my roof
stay out until midnight without asking the question. That would be
fair neither to you nor to myself."

"No," muttered Caroline. "I didn't mean anything either. Only it has
been such a--a rotten thing in the past for every one to think that
servant girls must be misbehaving themselves if they stopped out after
half-past ten."

"They often were," said Miss Ethel grimly. "Because if they weren't,
they remembered it was time to come in and came. But here is your
latch-key." And she went out of the kitchen, not daring to trust
herself to say any m