To this question, her companion made no reply. Had not she herself, been, so to speak, ‘snapped up’?
Every day Mrs. Hesketh and her friend spent many hours in each other’s company; either Letty descended to the hotel, or Mrs. Hesketh climbed to Les Plans. Many an afternoon she sat out in the garden or the orchard, enjoying the view, and Frau Hurter’s incomparable coffee, and she rubbed up her rusty German in order to converse with this stern-looking, industrious widow, who owned and worked the prosperous farm; rising at daybreak to see to the poultry and milking, her knitting rarely out of her capable hands, and knitting furiously all the while she talked.—It was her boast, that never in her life had she bought a stocking or a sock! The new-comer could see, that in her downright phlegmatic fashion, Freda Hurter was fond of her English inmate, and very proud of her appearance—such a contrast to her own deeply lined, hard-featured visage! But how it changed, and brightened when she spoke of Fritz. Yes, he was a clever fellow, and was to be educated in Zurich; afterwards he would come home to the farm, and take some day a wife, and she—her work done—would sit in the sun, and read her Bible.
Letty conducted her visitor to all her favourite haunts, and walks, exhibited the Ku Stal, and ‘Mogli,’ her tame pet cow, who knew her so well—a famous dun giving, when in full milk, twenty-four litres a day. Mrs. Hesketh took stock of Les Plans and its surroundings, her quick eyes made notes of the Josts; brown and rugged as two old leafless trees, determination, avarice, and honesty, engraved upon their faces. Nor did she fail to observe handsome Fritz, with his dark, expressive eyes, and beaming Cara, his constant attendant; the girl was a born hoyden—could row, skate, climb, and yodel. No doubt healthy outdoor life was an excellent outlet for her overpowering spirits, and activity. She was evidently a favourite among the farm-folk, with the exception of Jost’s wife, and the dog Karo,—who slunk away when Cara approached, and growled if she teased him.
It seemed to the onlooker, that the girl was something of a tyrant, who accepted all favours as her unquestionable right. Her mother’s love, and devotion, the indulgence of her companions—over whom she governed as a despotic monarch. Whatever Mitli said or wished was law: for she ruled Fritz, who ruled his mother, who ruled Les Plans.
One afternoon her mother and godmother sat together under a shady plane tree on the hill-side, Karo extended at their feet, occasionally snapping at flies, or, laying his head in Letty’s lap, adoring her with his deep, soft eyes.
“So you say, that Cara wants to go to the Convent at Lucerne after next term?” said Mrs. Hesketh.
“Yes, with two or three of her friends. I hear it highly recommended. She would be a daily boarder.”
“And after the Convent—when the girl considers herself educated—what then?”
“I have not thought of that yet.”