‘But will there be room?’ said Katherine; ‘I cannot fancy it.’

’Oh! half the rooms can be made Knight’s Templar’s horses and carry double,’ said Elizabeth; ’Mrs. Hazleby and both the girls may very well be in the blue room.’

’And there is the best room for the Mertons, and Horace’s for Rupert,’ said Katherine.

’Poor Horace! it is a shame that he, who laid the first stone, should not be at the Consecration,’ said Elizabeth.

‘Well, but where is Anne to be?’ said Katherine; ’if we take Dora into our room, and Winifred goes to the nursery, there is their room; but Aunt Anne’s maid must have that.’

’Anne shall come to my room—­if Aunt Anne will let her, that is to say,’ said Elizabeth; ’I wonder I never thought of that before, it will counteract some of the horrors of the Hazlebys.  I shall have the comfort of talking things over with the only person who knows what to feel.  Yes, I will go and speak to Mamma, and shew her that it is the only way of lodging the world conveniently.  Oh, how happy we shall be!’

As soon as Elizabeth had finished winding her skein, she hastened to Mrs. Woodbourne, and found no great difficulty in gaining her consent to the plan; and she then sat down to write to Miss Merton to inform her of the change of day, and invite her to share her room.

Elizabeth Woodbourne and Anne Merton were first cousins, and nearly of the same age.  They had spent much of their time together in their childhood, and their early attachment to each other, strengthening as they grew older, was now becoming something more than girlish affection.  Anne was an only daughter; and Elizabeth, though the eldest of a large family, had not hitherto found any of her sisters able to enter into her feelings as fully as her cousin; and perhaps there was no one who had so just an appreciation of Elizabeth’s character as Anne; who, though hers was of a very different order, had perhaps more influence over her mind than anyone excepting Mr. Woodbourne.

Sir Edward Merton was brother to Mr. Woodbourne’s first wife, the mother of Elizabeth, Katherine, and Helen; he had been Mr. Woodbourne’s principal assistant in the erection of the new church, and indeed had added all the decorations which the Vicar’s limited means, aided by a subscription, could not achieve; and his wife and daughter had taken nearly as much interest in its progress as the ardent Elizabeth herself.  Anne eagerly read Elizabeth’s note to her mother, and waited her consent to the scheme which it proposed.

‘Well, Mamma,’ said Anne, ’can you consent to this arrangement, or are you afraid that Lizzie and I should chatter all night?’

‘I hope you have outgrown your old habits of gossipping and idling,’ said Lady Merton; ’I believe I may trust you; and it may be inconvenient to Mrs. Woodbourne to find room for you elsewhere.’

‘I am very much obliged to you, Mamma,’ said Anne, at first gravely, then laughing, ’I mean that I shall enjoy it very much.  But pray, Mamma, do not trust too much to our age and experience, for I do not know anything more difficult than to stop short in a delightful talk, only just for the sake of going to sleep.’