e wide, shallow
stairs. If any one had told her three days ago that she would go thus
laggingly to resume acquaintance with a room full of young people she
would have found difficulty in believing them. A buzz of talk and
laughter struck loudly on her ear as she pushed the door open and went
in.

Every member of the family, except Mrs. Danvers who never came down to
breakfast, were assembled in the room, and, or so at least it seemed to
Margaret as she hung for a moment unperceived in a hesitating manner on
the threshold, they were all talking together.

In addition, Maud, who presumably occupied her mother's place at the head
of the table, but who had vacated it for the time being, was balancing
herself on the fender reading out scraps of news from a letter she held
in her hand.

One of the two cadets had evidently only just made his appearance at
breakfast, for he was standing at the sideboard, complaining, as he
lifted the covers and inspected the contents of the hot dishes, that not
a single thing worth eating had been left for him.

"You shouldn't be such a lazy person then," called a girl who was seated
near Geoffrey. "Of course, the early birds get all the worms."

"I am sorry, Miss Joan, that you liken our good food to worms," said the
boy, as, having passed the contents of all the dishes in review, he slid
a couple of poached eggs and a few rashers of bacon on to his plate, and
took his seat beside the girl who had called out the remark.

"I was speaking comparatively," she said in a condescending tone, as she
tilted her nose in the air. "I have heard before that one should not
speak comparatively to boys of your age, and now I know."

At that there arose a delighted shout of laughter, and Maud called across
from the fireplace that little girls should not use words they could not
understand. "You meant figuratively, my dear Joan," she said.

Joan, who looked about sixteen, tossed the long, fair pigtail in which
she wore her hair over her shoulder and began readily enough to join in
the laughter to which her mistake had just given rise. But all of a
sudden her countenance changed, and appearing to fly into a violent
passion she started up from her chair, and stamped her foot and cried
out:--

"I won't be laughed at, I won't, I won't! I hate you all!"

And burying her face in her handkerchief, she raced across the room, and
dashed full tilt into Margaret who was still hesitating unperceived in
the doo