"It seems so odd that you should go away from us, whom you have known so long, to stay with Miss Todd, whom you never have even seen."
"I think change of scene will be good for me, Mr. Wilkinson."
"Well, perhaps so." And then the other quarter of a mile made away with itself. "Come, get along, Dumpling." This was said to the fat steed; for they had now risen to level ground.
"Our house, I know, must be very stupid for you. It is much changed from what it was; is it not?"
"Oh, I don't know."
"Yes, it is. There is neither the same spirit, nor the same good-will. We miss my father greatly."
"Ah, yes. I can feel for you there. It is a loss; a great loss."
"I sometimes think it unfortunate that my mother should have remained at the vicarage after my father's death."
"You have been very good to her, I know."
"I have done my best, Adela." It was the first time she had distinctly heard him call her by her Christian name since she had come to stay with them. "But I have failed. She is not happy there; nor, indeed, for that matter, am I."