She was thus occupied one afternoon
towards the end of April. The spring sunshine poured in through the
windows, lending an added cheerfulness of aspect to the rooms of the tall
London house that made them appear worth quite five shillings a week more
than was actually charged for them, and Mrs. Lawrence smiled, well
satisfied.
She was a handsome woman, still in the early forties, and the word
"stylish" inevitably leaped to one's mind at the sight of her full,
well-corseted figure, fashionable raiment, and carefully coiffured hair.
There was nothing whatever of the boarding-house keeper about her; in
fact, at first sight, she rather gave the impression of a pleasant,
sociable woman who, having a house somewhat larger than she needed for
her own requirements, accepted a few paying guests to keep the rooms
aired.
This was just the impression she wished to convey, and it was usually
some considerable time before her boarders grasped the fact that they
were dealing with, a thoroughly shrewd, calculating business woman, who
was bent on making every penny out of them that she could, compatibly
with running the house on such lines as would ensure its answering to the
advertised description.
"I'm glad it's a sunny day," she remarked to Miss Bunting. "First
impressions are everything, and that pupil of Signor Baroni's, Miss
Quentin, arrives to-day. I hope her rooms are quite ready?"
"Quite, Mrs.
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