The Hampton Court expedition was to furnish the grand finale for the London chapter of “B. A.’s Abroad.” They were to go up to Hampton by an early afternoon train, see the palace and gardens, have dinner at an inn with a fascinating name just outside the palace gates, and row down the river at sunset, taking a train back to London somewhere further down the line. Mrs. Hildreth was going to chaperon the party, and she had no objection to Babbie’s asking Mr. Trevelyan to join it. She shook her head, however, over the invitation to the countess’s dance. “You couldn’t go without a chaperon, dear,” she said. “And if the idea is that Mr. Trevelyan’s sister is to chaperon you, why I shouldn’t be at all willing unless I had met her beforehand.”