the twins were meeting a train, but the train was late. they walked up and down the platform, by the side of which the station-master's arabis and aubrietia, primroses and daffodils, were making a fine show. it was the thursday before easter, which miss bird was coming to spend at kencote, miss phipp having already departed for a week in lovely lucerne; and the twins, out of the innumerable trains they had met, had never met one with greater pleasure. they had spent an arduous term with miss phipp, with whom they had established relations amicable on the whole, but not marked by the affection they had felt for miss bird; and although they had rather liked working hard, they had had enough of it for the present, and enough of miss phipp.

"i wish the train would hurry up. i do want to see the sweet old lamb," said joan. "let's ask mr. belper when it's coming."

the station-master, jovially respectful, told them that she was signalled, and they wouldn't have long to wait.

"but i think you ought to see that your trains are up to time," said nancy. "didn't you learn at school that punctuality was a virtue?"

"ah! i see you want to have one of your jokes with me, miss," said the station-master. "i don't know what it's about, but, bless you, have your laugh. i like to see young ladies enjoying themselves."

"thank you very much," said joan. "but there's nothing to laugh at in a train being always unpunctual. we want very much to see miss bird, who is coming, and you keep her on the line somewhere between here and ganton. you ought to turn over a new leaf, and see that people don't get disappointed like that."

"well, it isn't my fault, miss, and here she comes," said mr. belper, snatching up a metal instrument in shape something between a sceptre and a door-scraper and hurrying up the platform, as the engine fussed up the last incline and snorted itself to rest.

miss bird—diminutive, excited, voluble—cast herself out of her carriage and into the arms of the twins, who gave vent to their affection in a series of embraces that left her breathless and crumpled, but blissfully happy. "that will do joan 'n' nancy for the present," she said. "let me get my things out and then we can have a nice long talk. oh dear to find myself at kencote again it is almost too good to be true the umbrella on the rack porter and the hat-box my precious pets how you have grown a brown box with 'e.b.' in the van and that is all. how do you do mr. belper you see i have come back again once more like a bad penny as they say and how is mrs. clinton darlings and your father and all i have such a lot to hear that i'm sure we shall never leave off talking until i go away again."

"precious lamb!" said joan tenderly. "you won't leave off talking, and i could listen to you for ever, like the brook. you're such a relief after pipp."

"we didn't know when we were well off," said nancy. "we often lie awake at night and cry for you."

they were now walking towards the booking-office. "but surely miss phipp isn't cruel to you my pets mrs. clinton would never allow that oh my ticket mr. belper now i know i put it somewhere here it is in my bag and i give up this half and retain the other, good-afternoon ah to see these nice horses again it is like coming home indeed i have not ridden in a private carriage since i left kencote. good-afternoon william i see you are still here and promoted to the box one more of the old faces."

thus expressing her pleasure, miss bird got into the carriage and the twins after her, and they drove off.

"well my pets," she began, "let me take a good look at you many's the time i've longed to set eyes on you, and you have not altered at all just a trifle pale i do hope that you have not been working too hard."

joan and nancy exchanged glances, and then heaved a simultaneous sigh. they acted habitually so much in accord that the acceptance of an idea striking them simultaneously could be indicated by a look. "you were often unkind to us, starling darling," said joan plaintively, "although we've quite forgiven you for it; but in your most headstrong moments you were never actually cruel."

"don't cry, joan," said nancy. "we have nearly three weeks' holiday, and with starling here we shall be able to forget everything, and be as happy as possible."

miss bird's face showed perplexed horror. "but surely it isn't possible——" she began.

nancy interrupted her. "i don't mind so much for myself, because i'm not so tender-hearted as joan and don't feel things so much, and—oh, starling darling, please don't press that arm."

she winced realistically, and joan took her up immediately.

"nancy, i wonder if there's time to get long sleeves put into our frocks for to-night. mother will ask what the marks are, and we can't tell her a lie, and if we tell her the truth—— oh, starling darling, don't go away from us again. we can't bear it any more;" and she wept audibly on miss bird's inadequate shoulder.

miss bird was too overcome for the moment to give words to her horror, but she put her arm round joan, who winced in her turn, and said, "not that shoulder," through her convulsive sobs.

"don't be silly, joan," said nancy firmly. "william will wonder what is the matter, and you know what you will get if you let it out. starling darling, you won't say anything to anybody, will you? it will be much worse for us if you do, and after all when a bruise gets blue and green it doesn't hurt so very much."

"do you mean to say that she beats you?" exclaimed miss bird, her eyebrows almost up to her hat-brim. "then i shall go at once to mrs. clinton the moment i get into the house and tell her that——"

joan threw her arms round her neck and laughed. "angel lamb!" she said, "it's too bad to tease her. she's just as green and sweet as ever."

"oh, why do you spoil everything?" exclaimed nancy. then she too relented and added her embraces to joan's. "oh, you're too priceless," she said. "are you really glad to see us again?"

"well i suppose i must not be angry and i know your naughty ways too well," said miss bird, "but you gave me quite a turn and i suppose really miss phipp is all she should be and you love her very much as you ought to do and it is only natural that those who are near should take the place of those who are far."

"i believe she's really disappointed that pipp doesn't beat us black and blue," said joan. "but she'll never take your place, starling, my own. you're the one and only. i suppose you know we're aunts again. walter and muriel have got a boy."

"a boy!" exclaimed miss bird, enraptured. "now that is good news and how delighted your father will be the pet how i should like to see him."

"starling darling," expostulated nancy. "you will see him directly, but father won't like your calling him a pet."

miss bird blushed. "you know very well i should say no such thing, nancy," she said; "it was the baby i meant if you repeat that untruth in the house i shall go straight back where i came from."

the twins laughed. "isn't she pathetic and cherubic?" said joan. "we haven't seen him yet, though we're going to to-morrow. he was only born yesterday. we'll take you over."

"isn't everybody very pleased?" asked miss bird, meaning by "everybody" the squire, but not liking to mention his name again.

"we are," replied joan, "and so is mother. father isn't quite certain about it, although he is glad that he was born at mountfield—at the lodge, you know—instead of at melbury park. unless dick or humphrey have sons he'll succeed to the property, you see, and it is very important that he should be touched by nothing common or unclean. we've got such a lot to tell you—all about the weddings and the rows. everything is made up now, but we had the very deuce of a time since you left."

"now, joan," said miss bird sharply, "if you talk like that i shall be sorry i came and i am sure miss phipp would be very angry you must act while she is away as if she were present, here we are and i declare there is dear mrs. clinton at the door how pleased i am to see her once more oh it is almost too much." and she began waving her hand and bobbing up and down and saying, "oh how do you do how do you do," until the carriage drew up under the porch, when she hopped out of it and received a greeting from mrs. clinton which put the seal on her happiness.

the squire came out of his room as they were going into the morning-room. "why, miss bird!" he exclaimed heartily, "here's a sight for sore eyes! how de do, miss bird, how de do! 'pon my word, it looks so natural to see you here that i wonder we ever allowed you to go. we've got a very learned lady in your place, and a dangerously attractive one, by george—ha, ha!—but we don't forget you, miss bird, and we often wish you were back again."

now could anything have been handsomer than this! as miss bird asked of her sister when she went back home again. from such a man too! who had so many important things and people to think of.

"i'm sure mr. clinton all your kindness i never shall forget and never can forget," she began; but joan and nancy stopped her by pushing her into a chair, and the squire laughed and said, "they don't play tricks like that with miss phipp, the young monkeys! how do you think they're looking, miss bird? pretty good specimens for kencote air, eh? well, i suppose you've heard all our news—dick married, and humphrey going to be. you've never seen mrs. dick, i think; she was after your time."

"no but she wrote me the kindest possible letter mr. clinton when i sent a small gift to dick and there was really no necessity for anybody to write but dick wrote at once and she wrote too and said she should hope to see me soon which touched me very deeply and made me feel that i knew her though i had never seen her."

"ah, yes," said the squire complacently; "she thinks of everybody and identifies herself with all dick's interests, and you're not the least of them, miss bird. you'll see her to-night, for they're dining here, and if you don't take to her out of hand, miss bird, i shall be very much surprised. we're all in love with her here—eh, children?"

"rather!" said the twins in one breath; and mrs. clinton said, "they are at the dower-house for a week or two. dick is looking after some other properties, but he has arranged it so that it does not take up all his time. they live chiefly in yorkshire, but they will be able to live at the dower-house for a week or two every now and then, and by and by we hope that they will be able to live there altogether."

"and where is humphrey going to live?" enquired miss bird, who had gathered certain facts from her correspondence with the twins, and had no wish to be indiscreet, but did wish to know.

"oh, he'll settle down in london," said the squire. "it will suit him and lady susan better; and he's getting on well with his work and has to be near it," and miss bird was too discreet to indicate that she had heard that he had been going to give up his work.

"we hope that they will come here often," said mrs. clinton. "the idea was that they should go to the dower-house when dick and virginia didn't want it, but there is plenty of room here, as you know, and they chose not to have the responsibility of another house."

miss bird was well posted in the general hang of family affairs when she presently went upstairs with the twins, but it remained for them to enlighten her on the events that had led up to the existing state of things.

they took her to her old room, which had been in the occupancy of miss phipp. "we told mother we were sure you would like to sleep here," said joan, "and we've cleared all her things out, and made it just like it used to be for you."

"darlings!" said miss bird. "it will be like old times and i shall scarcely be able to sleep for happiness oh, look at the daffodils under the trees."

"we didn't think you'd want to be bothered up with her books," said nancy, "so we've put the ones you like instead. the pilgrim's progress and longfellow and the wide, wide world. you'll be able to cry over that to-morrow before you get up."

miss bird was nearly overcome again by these thoughtful preparations for her happiness. "now i'll just take off my things pets and then we'll have a cosey time in the schoolroom i'm so looking forward to seeing it again you go and take off your things too and i'll come in a minute."

"if you would like to look through her photographs," said nancy, as they were leaving the room, "they're all in this drawer; but they're not very interesting. hullo, here's hannah—always on the spot when she isn't wanted, and never there when she is."

"indeed, miss nancy," said hannah, "and i suppose i may come and see miss bird without stepping out of my place, which unwilling i should be to do, and miss bird always treating me as a perfect lady, and very pleased all are to see her back again, high and low."

"you treat her as a perfect lady, starling darling, for a minute while we go and take our things off," said nancy, "and try and persuade her to do her work better, or she'll have to go."

hannah was left indignantly spluttering something about working her fingers to the bone and getting small thanks for it, while miss bird soothed her ruffled spirits, and told her that if she didn't know how to put up with her young ladies' nonsense by this time she wasn't as sensible as she had thought, but she was delighted to see her again, and was sure that she was doing her duty as she always had done it.

a little later she was sitting between the twins on the schoolroom sofa, having duly expressed her rapture at finding herself once more in that dear old room.

"now we'll tell you all about everything," began joan. "you heard father say how much he liked virginia, didn't you?"

"yes," said miss bird, "and mrs. clinton too and very pleasant it is when some one comes into a family to be welcomed so lovingly and i hope you and nancy are equally fond of her joan for i am sure she deserves it so kind and considerate as she has shown herself."

"we adore her," said nancy. "it is very easy for people to make us like them if they take a little trouble. we are very simple-minded."

"it's a question of chocolates judiciously administered," said joan. "but we could do without them from her, because we like her immensely. well, you'd hardly believe, from the way father talked, that he threatened to cut dick off with a shilling if he married her, could you?"

"now joan i don't want to listen to any nonsense," said miss bird. "you have taken me in once this evening and let that be enough."

"but, starling darling, it's true. it wasn't till she saved his life out hunting that he would put up with her at all. of course, now he thinks he always liked her, but that's what he is."

"i don't wish to hear any more of that tell me about the wedding," said miss bird.

"well, if you won't believe it, you won't," said nancy. "and it doesn't much matter now, because it is all over, and we are a united family once more; but you have no idea of the trouble joan and i had with them all. except mother, we were the only ones who kept our heads."

"at one time"—joan took up the tale—"humphrey was going to be put in to lord it over us, and sweet sue clinton; but directly dick turned up and took father in hand we didn't hear any more about that, and they are going to have a scrumptious flat in town, and we are going up, one at a time, to stay with them, because they only have one spare room."

"sue isn't bad," said nancy. "we didn't care for her at first, but she's got a horrible old painted dragon of a mother, and when she's away from her she's quite decent, and i dare say we shall be able to make something of her."

"now i don't want to hear any more gossip about people joan 'n' nancy," said miss bird, "tell me about dick's wedding."

"ivory satin," said joan, "with sable hats and stoles and muffs, which dick gave us, and shower bouquets of violets. we were the admired of all beholders."

"toby dexter acted as sort of best man to virginia," said nancy. "she's up in yorkshire now, keeping the house warm for them."

the twins gave the rest of their news in alternate sentences.

"cousin humphrey gave virginia away. he was very sweet, and made a lot of jokes afterwards."

"it was a very quiet wedding—at blaythorn. uncle tom married them, and made several mistakes in the service. i suppose he was overcome. humphrey was dick's best man. they hadn't been very good friends at one time, but they had made it up, and now they like each other very much."

"we only had relations staying here for the wedding, except mr. spence, dick's friend, whose property he is looking after. he was such fun. we simply loved him. he used to roar at all our jokes, especially at nancy's rhapsodies, and we egged him on to make love to miss phipp."

"she was immensely flattered. she said he was a true gentleman, and when we told him we thought he'd have had a fit."

"he didn't really make love to her. he was too kind. he used to pay her a lot of attention, and asked her to teach him to spell."

"he wrote us a letter when he'd gone back and spelt appearance with one 'p.'"

"and other mistakes too. but we did adore him."

"old mr. marsh was at the wedding. we think he proposed to toby dexter afterwards, but she would never tell us. he drank too much champagne."

"now nancy you are not to say things like that," said miss bird, quite in her old authoritative manner.

nancy embraced her warmly. "you're too sweet for words," she said. "uncle herbert and aunt emmeline and angela came. angela is going to be married in june at holy trinity, sloane street, and we're to be bridesmaids; and to sweet sue clinton, too, at st. george's, hanover square. our portraits will be in the papers, and we'll send you copies. we shall be much admired."

"uncle herbert was very angelic. he talked about ibsen to miss phipp, and when she found out that he had been a liberal member of parliament she almost wept for joy. we didn't know she was a radical before, but if uncle herbert was one, they can't be as bad as father makes out."

"she's a suffragette too, but she has never been able to answer father's question, 'who would cook the dinner on polling-day?'"

"well, she's answered it, but father won't listen to her."

"aunt laura is ill. we'll take you to see her to-morrow. she made us promise to."

"oh dear miss clinton," broke in miss bird, "i do hope it is nothing serious."

"she's very old. she can't live much longer, i'm afraid. she remembers the battle of trafalgar, or the crimean war—i forget which."

they talked for some time longer, and when miss bird went to her room to dress for dinner it was with a heart full of thankfulness to find herself still so much beloved, and with a lively curiosity as to what virginia would be like when she should presently meet her.

she and the twins were together in the morning-room when dick and virginia arrived. while the twins were throwing themselves upon virginia, dick came forward grinning and gave her a resounding kiss on either cheek. "there, old lady," he said. "that's what you deserve and what you'll get from me now i'm married. virginia, come and do likewise."

miss bird, once more, was overcome almost to the point of tears. "i'm sure this is a very happy day for me," she twittered, but could get no further.

"they're all happy days for all of us," said virginia, who looked radiant, and not much older than her young sisters-in-law. "the twins are to bring you down to see me early to-morrow morning, when dick is out. i want to hear all about him when he was a little boy, and i'm sure a very naughty one."

"oh indeed," said miss bird; "he was high-spirited but as for naughtiness what i call real naughtiness no child could have been freer from it."

"if you think you're going to get anything against me out of miss bird, you may save yourself the trouble and enquire elsewhere," said dick. "she thinks there was never such a family as the clintons, don't you, starling?"

"i think they're rather nice too," said virginia, with her hands on the shoulders of joan and nancy and her eyes on dick.

the squire coming in at this moment with mrs. clinton greeted virginia as if she were his daughter, and it being on the stroke of eight immediately led her in to dinner. he was in the best of spirits, and talked and laughed, during the whole of the meal, in his old, rather boisterous fashion. gone were the moody silences and the frowning perplexity of a few months back. he had not, apparently, a care in the world, and, with his healthy, rubicund visage, and active, though massive form, looked as if he were prepared to enjoy the good things with which his life was filled for a further indefinite number of years.

there was only one little shadow of a cloud. as he got into bed that night, he said, "i'm very glad you asked old miss bird here, nina. she's a faithful old soul, and it does me good to see her about the place. she seems to belong to it, and it brings us back to where we were before all this infernal worry came to us."

"we are better off than we were then," said mrs. clinton, "for you were worrying about dick getting married, and now his marriage has come about and you need worry over it no longer."

"ah, yes," said the squire. "i remember i did say something to you, and to him too, just before he sprang it on us—what was in his mind. if i had known virginia then it would have saved us months of bother. i've never quite forgiven dick for not introducing me to her at first. i should have given way at once, of course. however, we needn't think about that now; but now this little chap of walter's has come—i must go over and have a look at him to-morrow—it does make me wish that we were in the way of looking forward to a son of dick's. i suppose, nina——"

"there is plenty of time to hope for that," said mrs. clinton.

"i suppose there is, and we mustn't be impatient. still, i shan't be quite easy in my mind about the succession until there are children at the dower-house. however, the matter is in higher hands than ours, and there's never failed an heir to kencote yet. how long was virginia married before?"

"seven years, i think," said mrs. clinton.

"ah, well, if the worst comes to the worst, there's a boy clinton sleeping over at mountfield now, and we must put up with our disappointment. good-night, nina. god bless you!"