At the appointed hour on the following morning Mr. Leigh called, and after some desultory remarks he asked, rather abruptly:
"Has St. Elmo Murray written to you about his last whim?"
"I do not correspond with Mr. Murray."
"Everybody wonders what droll freak will next seize him. Reed, the blacksmith, died several months ago and, to the astonishment of our people, Mr. Murray has taken his orphan, Huldah, to Le Bocage; has adopted her I believe; at all events, is educating her."
Edna's face grew radiant.
"Oh! I am glad to hear it! Poor little Huldah needed a friend, and she could not possibly have fallen into kinder hands than Mr. Murray's."
"There certainly exists some diversity of opinion on that subject. He is rather too grim a guardian, I fancy, for one so young as Huldah Reed."
"Is Mr. Hammond teaching Huldah?"
"Oh! no. Herein consists the wonder. Murray himself hears her lessons, so Estelle told my sister. A propos! rumor announces the approaching marriage of the cousins. My sister informed me that it would take place early in the spring."
"Do you allude to Mr. Murray and Miss Harding?"