“You must have had letters from your father; to which decision does he appear to incline?” asked the captain, addressing himself to his niece.
“Papa has been very busy, and wrote but briefly,” said Emmie. “I believe that a good deal will depend on whether papa is satisfied with what he sees of a gentleman at S——, who has been highly recommended as a private tutor for my brothers. S—— is but three miles from Myst Court, so that if we lived at that place, Vibert and Bruce could go over to Mr. Blair’s for study every week-day.”
“My father’s plan, now that Bruce and I have left Cheltenham,” interrupted Vibert, “is to keep us with him at home for a year or two, and have us prepared for Cambridge or some competitive examination by a private tutor, either in London, or at S——, if we go into Wiltshire.”
“What description does Bruce give of Myst Court?” inquired Captain Arrows.
“Bruce is a lazy dog with his pen, and seldom honours me with a scratch of it,” answered Vibert.
“Bruce wrote to me the day after he went into Wiltshire,” said Emmie. “He knew that I should be interested to hear of the place which may soon be our home. Bruce writes that the house is of the date of the reign of Queen Anne; that it is built of red brick, and looks rather formal, but has splendid trees around it. Myst Court stands quite by itself, with no other country-house near it, and has the reputation of being haunted.”
Arrows smiled at the gravity with which the young lady pronounced the last word.
“Myst Court must be a horridly dull place, at least for those who are not sportsmen!” cried Vibert. “Bruce and I may find a little liveliness at S——; but for you, Emmie, it will be a case of—
‘And still she cried, “’Tis very dreary—
’Tis dreary and sad,” she said;
She said, “I am aweary, aweary;
I wish I were dead!”’”
Emmie laughed, but the laugh was rather a forced one.