There was sunshine of both kinds that day at the Rectory.  Celestina came early, almost immediately after breakfast indeed, so as to be present at the great ‘surprise.’  She was to spend the whole day for once with her friends, which was a great treat, though she saw them regularly once or twice a week when she came to have a French lesson from Miss Millet.  Mrs. Vane had arranged this before she left, for little Miss Neale, who now gave Celestina lessons every day at Pier Street, could not teach French, and it was a great pleasure, and help too, to Biddy to have industrious, attentive Celestina still her companion in something.

But to-day, of course, there was no question of lessons of any kind.

They had breakfast extra early, which some children I know, would not, I fear, consider a treat.  Indeed, I once heard of some young people, scarcely to be called children, and by no means overworked young people either, who chose for a holiday pleasure that they should stay in bed for breakfast, and not get up till the middle of the day, which, I must say, I did not at all admire.  The great reason for the extra early breakfast on Biddy’s birthday was not that the Vane children were so very fond of being up betimes, but that Rough wanted to be there at the great scene, and with some difficulty he had got an hour’s ‘grace’ from school that morning.

To begin at the beginning—­for I know that when I was a child I liked to be told all about everything—­the first pleasure of the day, after the reading of papa’s nice letter, was the sight of the breakfast-table.  Kind Miss Millet and Alie had dressed it up with cowslips after Biddy had gone to bed the night before, for there were cowslips, and very pretty ones, to be had in some woods a mile or two inland from Seacove.  And May birthdays always make one think of cowslips.

The breakfast itself was very nice too—­extra nice; for there was no bread and milk for once, but only ‘grown-up’ things—­a tempting dish of ham and eggs, and delicious hot rolls and tea-cakes, and strawberry jam and honey to eat with them as a finish up.  And besides the letter from papa—­which had really come the day before and been kept till this morning, as, in his fear of being too late, Mr. Vane had sent it off rather too soon—­there was a neat little packet for Biddy from grandmamma, containing a story-book called The Christmas Stocking, and a lovely scarf worked in all kinds of marvellous Eastern colours, ‘making one think of the Arabian nights,’ as Alie said, from the Indian cousins.  So that it was with a sigh of deep content that Biddy sat down to breakfast, knowing that something still more delightful and wonderful was in store.

Celestina arrived before breakfast was quite over, and Rough ran out and brought her into the dining-room, where she had to eat a roll and strawberry jam to refresh her after her early walk.  And then when every one had finished and Rough had said grace, they all set off to the schoolroom.