“Not longer than was necessary to make her consent to take me with her to the country. Oh, Hildegarde, what pleasant walks we shall have in the oak wood, and how much happier we shall be there than here. Were you ever at these Iron Works?”
“Not since I was a child,” answered Hildegarde, smiling as she had not smiled since her father’s death; “I remember the noise of the hammers was incessant, and the house shook a good deal, and the white window-curtains were very soon soiled.”
“We shall get used to the hammers, I dare say,” said Hamilton, laughing. “As to the house shaking, that must be imagination; and the window-curtains can be easily changed, you know.”
“But mamma said nothing in the world would induce her to take you with us. How did you persuade her?”
“I can tell you all that when I return home. Excuse me as well as you can, should I be late for supper. Good-by.”
“Where are you going?” asked Hildegarde.
He whispered a few words, and then hurried downstairs.
CHAPTER XXXV.
THE DIFFICULTY REMOVED.
It was late in the evening, and Hamilton had not yet returned. Madame Rosenberg began to get a little uneasy, and very impatient, when fortunately Madame Berger arrived to complain bitterly of her husband, who had declined receiving Mr. Hamilton as an inmate of his house on any terms. “He says I am too young—and he is too often absent—and people might talk! Did you ever hear anything so absurd?”