"Why, they had no children, sir, for fifteen years and more. After Miss Frances came, of course, that was all changed."
"She was born abroad?"
"Yes, sir; in France. I don't just know the town."
"But you know the date of her birth?"
"Oh, yes, sir—the tenth of June, eighteen seventy-six—we always celebrated it."
"Mr. Holladay was with his wife at the time?"
"Yes, sir; he and his wife had been abroad nearly a year. His health had broken down, and the doctor made him take a long vacation. He came home a few months later, but Mrs. Holladay stayed on. She didn't get strong again, some way. She stayed nearly four years, and he went over every few months to spend a week with her; and at last she came home to die, bringing her child with her. That was the first time any of us ever saw Miss Frances."
"Mr. Holladay thought a great deal of her?"
"You may well say so, sir; she took his wife's place," said the old man simply.
"And she thought a great deal of him?"