The apartment they liked best was a corner one with windows looking toward the east and south. The large corner room had a beautiful bay window, and was so light and sunny that Patty declared it should be their library.
“Library, sitting-room and general living-room,” said her father, laughing; “you know, Puss, you can’t have as many rooms at your disposal in the city as you have in Vernondale. But we’ll have all our books and favourite belongings in this room, and I’m sure we can make it very comfortable. Then this smaller room next will be a more formal reception room for casual callers.”
There were four bedrooms, and Mr. Fairfield insisted that the two sunniest and pleasantest ones should be assigned to Patty and Grandma Elliott. The other two, whose windows opened on an airshaft instead of on the street, were to be Mr. Fairfield’s bedroom and a guest-room.
The whole apartment was very prettily furnished in good taste, and entirely without that lavish use of bright colours which so often characterises a hotel.
The library was in green and the little reception-room in pale blue.
Patty’s own room was daintily done up in pink, and though perhaps not just the colour she would have chosen, it was so fresh and pretty that she expressed herself perfectly satisfied.
Of course, everything in the way of chairs and tables was amply provided, but the Fairfields proposed to bring in a quantity of their own furniture, rugs, pictures and books.
Having decided on the apartment, Mr. Fairfield drew a plan of it so that when they returned home they might better decide what pieces of furniture could be accommodated.
Patty flew around from room to room in great delight.
“I’m so used to changing my home,” she said, “that I really feel quite at home in this apartment already. This library is going to be the loveliest room in the world. You can have your desk there, and I can have my little desk here, and we’ll have our big library table in the middle, just as it is at home. Then we’ll have Grandma’s little work-table by this window. This big fireplace is perfectly fascinating and we can bring our brass andirons and fireset. They’re a lot prettier than these old black iron things. And we can bring a book-case or two, can’t we, papa?”