‘I would rather go back to Miss Brownings’ at once, please,’ said Molly, with a nightmare-like recollection of the last, the only evening she had spent at the Towers.

Lord Cumnor was standing on the steps, waiting to hand his daughter out of the carriage.  Lady Harriet stopped to kiss Molly on the forehead, and to say,—­

’I shall come some day soon, and bring you a load of Miss Edgeworth’s tales, and make further acquaintance with Pecksy and Flapsy.’

‘No, don’t, please,’ said Molly, taking hold of her, to detain her.  ‘You must not come—­indeed you must not.’

‘Why not?’

’Because I would rather not—­because I think that I ought not to have any one coming to see me who laughs at the friends I am staying with, and calls them names.’  Molly’s heart beat very fast, but she meant every word that she said.

‘My dear little woman!’ said Lady Harriet, bending over her and speaking quite gravely.  ’I’m very sorry to have called them names—­ very, very sorry to have hurt you.  If I promise you to be respectful to them in word and deed—­and in very thought, if I can—­you’ll let me then, won’t you?’

Molly hesitated.  ’I’d better go home at once; I shall only say wrong things—­and there’s Lord Cumnor waiting all this time.’

’Let him alone; he’s very well amused hearing all the news of the day from Brown.  Then I shall come—­under promise?’

So Molly drove off in solitary grandeur; and Miss Brownings’ knocker was loosened on its venerable hinges by the never-ending peal of Lord Cumnor’s footman.

They were full of welcome, full of curiosity.  All through the long day they had been missing their bright young visitor, and three or four times in every hour they had been wondering and settling what everybody was doing at that exact minute.  What had become of Molly during all the afternoon, had been a great perplexity to them; and they were very much oppressed with a sense of the great honour she had received in being allowed to spend so many hours tete-a-tete with Lady Harriet.  They were, indeed, more excited by this one fact than by all the details of the wedding, most of which they had known of beforehand, and talked over with much perseverance during the day.  Molly began to feel as if there was some foundation for Lady Harriet’s inclination to ridicule the worship paid by the good people of Hollingford to their liege lords, and to wonder with what tokens of reverence they would receive Lady Harriet if she came to pay her promised visit.  She had never thought of concealing the probability of this call until this evening; but now she felt as if it would be better not to speak of the chance, as she was not at all sure if the promise would be fulfilled.