Page:Leah Reed--Brenda's summer at Rockley.djvu/320

302 woman started in the direction of the railway station, which was not so very far from the house, and Thomas  followed at a little distance behind.

“There,” said Mr. Barlow, finally, wiping his brow as he walked up to the steps. “So that was a friend of yours, Brenda; I should really like to know how you have  found a chance to extend your acquaintance among  gypsies.”

“I never saw her but once, papa; she is n’t a friend.”

“Well, she said that you had asked her to come over here to see you, and she certainly had your name and  address written in your own hand on a piece of  paper.”

Now, with all her faults, Brenda was never untruthful, and even at this trying moment, with Mrs. Tolbaird looking at her in surprise, she would not tell what was not  true.

“Yes,” she said, almost ready to break into tears; “yes, I did.”

“Well, it’s rather a pity that she should have come at this particular time. If she had stayed a few moments longer in the smoking-room, she might have helped herself to anything that she particularly fancied among the  wedding presents.”

Brenda could say nothing in reply.

“It was your fault, too, that the door of the smoking-room was unlocked. The woman may have meant no harm in entering it directly from the piazza. She was not supposed to know what there was inside. But it