and Lady Horace of course. I believe there's to be a dance or something at Tunimba."
"I'm going home next week," said Elsie.
"But you can wait for that. Nobody wants you in Leichardt's Town."
"Heaps of people want me, and heaps of things. Mamma wants me; my winter gowns want me, and the fruit wants me. It has to be made into jam, and my dresses have to be made; there's nobody to do them but me. You see Ina used to be the practical person among us—the Prime Minister, the dressmaker, and the cook all in one. And now Ina is gone."
"Oh, but haven't you?" Frank began and stopped awkwardly.
"Haven't we a cook? you were going to say. No, we haven't. Mammie and I do the cooking for each other, and a nice mess we make of it, and the Kanaka boy who does the garden cleans the pots and pans. Now you know all about it. Have you any idea, Mr. Hallett, what Mammie and I have to live upon?"
"No—that is, I didn't imagine of course that you were millionaires."
"We've got exactly one hundred and twenty-five pounds a year, not counting the garden produce—a hundred and twenty-five pounds a year to pay our rent and to feed and clothe our two selves and buy all the necessaries of civilization. I suppose I pass as a civilized young person out in Australia, though I am quite sure I shouldn't if you put me down in London society. Oh dear, I wonder if I shall ever have a taste of London society."
"How you always harp on England," said young Hallett.
"Well, isn't it supposed to be the Paradise of Australian girls, as they used to say Paris was to Americans? I'm certain that one of the reasons Ina married Horace was because she thought he might take her to England. I can't imagine any other."
Frank laughed. "Oh, he's a very good fellow, though he is a lord, as they say about here. But why do you say
