"But I've given him a room all to himself on the other side of the house.
So I don't expect he will be disturbed."
Their uncle looked at the three children, and nodded to them.
The frown didn't come off his face, and they all felt a little scared, and were glad that he was to work in another part of the house.
"Where's George?" he said, in a deep voice.
"Gone off somewhere again," said Aunt Fanny, vexed.
"I told her she was to stay here and meet her cousins."
"She wants spanking," said Uncle Quentin.
The children couldn't quite make out whether he was joking or not.
"Well, children, I hope you have a good time here, and maybe you will knock a little common-sense into George!"
There was no room at Kirrin Cottage for Mother and Daddy to stay the night, so after a hurried supper they left to stay at a hotel in the nearest town.
They would drive back to London immediately after breakfast the next day. So they said goodbye to the children that night.
Georgina still hadn't appeared.
"I'm sorry we haven't seen Georgina," said Mother.
"Just give her our love and tell her we hope she'll enjoy playing with Dick, Julian and Anne."
Then Mother and Daddy went.
The children felt a little bit lonely as they saw the big car disappear round the corner of the road, but Aunt Fanny took them upstairs to show them their bedrooms, and they soon forgot to be sad.
The two boys were to sleep together in a room with slanting ceilings at the top of the house.
It had a marvellous view of the bay.
The boys were really delighted with it.
Anne was to sleep with Georgina in a smaller room, whose windows looked over the moors at the back of the house.
But one side-window looked over the sea, which pleased Anne very much.
It was a nice room, and red roses nodded their heads in at the window.
"I do wish Georgina would come," Anne said to her aunt.
"I want to see what she's like."
"Well, she's a funny little girl," said her aunt.
"She can be very rude and haughty—but she's kind at heart, very loyal and absolutely truthful.
Once she makes friends with you, she will always be your friend— but she finds it very difficult indeed to make friends, which is a great pity."
Anne suddenly yawned.
The boys frowned at her, because they knew what would happen next.
And it did!
"Poor Anne!
How tired you are!
You must all go to bed straight away, and have a good long night.
Then you will wake up quite fresh tomorrow," said Aunt Fanny.
"Anne, you are an idiot," said Dick, crossly, when his aunt had gone out of the room.
"You know quite well what grown-ups think as soon as we yawn.
I did want to go down on the beach for a while."
"I'm so sorry," said Anne.
"Somehow I couldn't help it.
And anyway, you're yawning now, Dick, and Julian too!"
So they were.
They were as sleepy as could be with their long drive. Secretly all of them longed to cuddle down into bed and shut their eyes.
"I wonder where Georgina is," said Anne, when she said good-night to the boys, and went to her own room.
"Isn't she queer— not waiting to welcome us— and not coming in to supper— and not even in yet!
After all, she's sleeping in my room— goodness knows what time she'll be in!"
All the three children were fast asleep before Georgina came up to bed!
They didn't hear her open Anne's door. They didn't hear her get undressed and clean her teeth.
They didn't hear the creak of her bed as she got into it.
They were so tired that they heard nothing at all until the sun awoke them in the morning.