So he opened the envelope and read:
“Dear Clematis:
Mr. Brooks has asked us if he might keep you for a year. Do you think you would like to stay?
I shall go to see you in Tilton next week, so you must be thinking it over, and decide if you really want to stay?
Your true friend,
Rose Thornton.”
After he had finished, Clematis was silent for a moment. Then she looked up at him with a happy smile.
“Please read it again,” she said.
So he read it again, while she sat still in his lap.
“Do you think you would really like to stay?” he asked, when he had finished.