'
Oh, how much was implied in that monosyllable. He knew it, for a
little faint colour came up, as he, shyly, laughed and hesitated,
'That is--if--'
'If' included Mrs. Fordyce's not being ungracious. Nor was she.
Emily had found her as kind as in the old days at Hillside, and
perfectly ready to bring us into close vicinity. It was not caprice
that had made this change, but all possible doubt and risk of
character were over, the old wound was in some measure healed, and
the friendship had been brought foremost by our recent sorrow and
our present anxiety. Anne was in ecstasies over Emily. 'It is so
odd,' she said, 'to have grown as old as you, whom I used to think
so very grown up,' and she had all her pet plans to display in the
future. Moreover, Martyn had been permitted to relieve the Rector
from the funeral--a privilege which seemed to gratify him as much as
if it had been the liveliest of services.
We were to lunch at the Rectory, and the move of our goods was to be
effected while we were there. We found Mrs. Fordyce looking much
older, but far less of an invalid than in old times, and there was
something more genial and less exclusive in her ways, owing perhaps
to the difference of her life among the many classes with whom she
was called on to associate.
Somersetshire, Beachharbour, and China occupied our tongues by
turns, and we had to begin luncheon without the Rector, who had been
hindered by numerous calls; in fact, as Anne warned us, it was a
wonder if he got the length of the esplanade without being stopped
half-a-dozen times.
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