Nan held out her hand with a chummy smile . `` It 's good of you to give your afternoon up to visiting a cranky invalid , '' she said heartily . `` You do n't know how lonesome I 've been since Maude went away . Take off your hat and pick out the nicest chair you can find , and let 's be comfy . '' Somehow , Nan 's frank greeting did away with Florrie 's embarrassment and made her feel at home . She sat down in Maude 's rocker , then , glancing over to a vase filled with roses , her eyes kindled with pleasure . Seeing this , Nan said , `` Are n't they lovely ? We Wallaces are very fond of our climbing roses . Our great-grandmother brought the roots out from England with her sixty years ago , and they grow nowhere else in this country . '' `` I know , '' said Florrie , with a smile . `` I recognized them as soon as I came into the room . They are the same kind of roses as those which grow about Grandmother Hamilton 's house in England . I used to love them so . '' `` In England ! Were you ever in England ? '' `` Oh , yes , '' laughed Florrie . `` And I 've been in pretty nearly every other country upon earth -- every one that a ship could get to , at least . '' `` Why , Florrie Hamilton ! Are you in earnest ? '' `` Indeed , yes .
Perhaps you do n't know that our ` now-mother , ' XXXXX Jack says sometimes , is Father 's second wife .
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