"
"And so good," added Mrs. Haberton; "you may be sure I shall be safe in
her hands."
For the moment Claudia was sensible of a little pang. Ought she to be so
readily dispensed with? Were her services a quantity which could be
neglected?
But, after all, this was nothing. She did not neglect her mother; that
was out of the question.
[Sidenote: Up to Town]
So it was agreed that Claudia should go. Aunt Jane wrote a letter
expressing her joy at the prospect, and Aunt Ruth added a postscript
which was as long as the letter, confirming all that her sister had
said.
So Claudia went up to town, and was received with open arms by her
aunts.
* * * * *
The placid household at St. John's Wood was all the brighter for
Claudia's presence; but she could not suffer herself to remain for more
than a day or two in the light of an ordinary visitor.
"I came this time, you know," she early explained to Aunt Jane, "on a
voyage of exploration."
"Of what, my dear?" said Aunt Jane, to whom great London was still a
fearsome place, full of grievous peril.
"Of exploration, you know. I am going to look up a few old friends, and
see how they live. They are working women, who----"
"But," said Aunt Jane, "do you think you ought to go amongst the poor
alone?"
"Oh, they aren't poor in that sense, auntie; they are just single women,
old acquaintances of mine--schoolfellows indeed--who have to work for
their living.
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