Her face had cleared suddenly.

It did not seem to her, at least in the shadows of the hall, that her cousin Constance was anything of a beauty.
"I'm afraid I must look after Annette first.

She's much more important than I am!" And the girl ran back to where a woman in a blue serge coat and skirt was superintending the carrying in of the luggage.

There was a great deal of luggage, and Annette, who wore a rather cross, flushed air, turned round every now and then to look frowningly at the old gabled house into which it was being carried, as though she were more than doubtful whether the building would hold the boxes.

Yet as houses went, in the older parts of Oxford, Medburn House, Holywell, was roomy.
"Annette, don't do any unpacking till after tea!" cried Lady Constance.
"Just get the boxes carried up, and rest a bit.