ill be here to-morrow! Why did Miss
Stapleton leave us? It is really too terrible."

"She left," said Briar, her eyes twinkling, "because we would call her
Step, which means step-mother. She was so dreadfully, dreadfully afraid
that you might find it out."

"Oh, children, how incorrigible you are! The poor woman! I'd sooner have
married---- I--I never mean to marry anybody."

"Of course you don't, Padre. And you may go now, darling," said Verena.
"Go, and be happy, feeling that your daughters will look after you. You
are not lonely, are you, darling, with so many of us? Now go and be very
happy."

Eight pairs of lips blew kisses to the departing figure. Mr. Dale
shambled off, and disappeared through the open window into his study.

"Poor dear!" said Verena, "he has forgotten our existence already. He
only lives when he thinks of Virgil. Most of his time he sleeps, poor
angel! It certainly is our bounden duty to keep him away from Aunt
Sophia. What a terror she must be! Fancy the situation. Eight nieces all
in a state of insurrection, and two more nieces in the nursery ready to
insurrect in their turn!"

"Something must be done," interrupted Pauline. "Nurse is the woman to
help us. Forewarned is forearmed. Nurse must put us up to a wrinkle or
two."

"Then let's go to her at once," said Verena.

They all started up, and, Verena leading the way, they went through the
little paddock to the left of the house, and so into a yard, very
old-fashioned and covered with weeds and cobble-stones. There were
tumble-down stables and coach-houses, hen-houses, and buildings, useful
and otherwise, surrounding the yard; and now in the coach-house, which
for many years had sheltered no carriage of any sort, sat nurse busy at
work, with two little children playing at her feet.

"Don't mind the babies at present," said Verena. "Don't snatch them up
and kiss them, Briar. Patty, keep your hands off. Nurse, we have come."

"So I see, Miss Verena," said nurse.

She lifted her very much wrinkled old face and looked out of deep-set,
black eyes full at the young girl.

"What is it, my darling child?"

"How are we to bear it? Shall we fall on our knees and get round you in a
little circle? We must talk to you. You must advise us."

"Eh, dears!" said nurse. "I am nearly past that sort of thing. I'm not as
young as I wor, and master and me we're both getting old. It doesn't seem
to me to matter much now whether a body's pretty or not,