“But now,” said Mr. Fairfield, “if I may have the floor for a minute, I’d like to make an announcement. We have a plan, Patty, which we made while you were away, and which I hope will meet with your approval.”
“As if I ever disapproved of any of your plans, my dear daddy. Consider my approval granted before you begin.”
“Well, it’s this: I think Nan is looking a little bit pale, and I feel a trifle pale myself, so I think we two will run away down South for a fortnight or so, and leave you here.”
“Alone?” asked Patty, in surprise.
“Well, no; hardly that. But how would you like to have Mrs. Allen, Nan’s mother, come and stay with you?”
“I think that will be lovely,” exclaimed Patty. “I’m awfully fond of Mrs. Allen, and I haven’t seen her for a long time.”
“She’s not a very sedate matron,” said Nan, laughing. “I dare say she’ll keep you on the go, Patty. She’s fond of opera and concerts, and she likes gaiety. But father will come over for the week-ends, and look after you both.”
Nan’s parents lived in Philadelphia, and as they had just returned from a trip abroad, the Fairfields hadn’t seen them lately. But it had seemed to them that the arrangement they had planned would be satisfactory all round, for Mrs. Allen liked to spend a few weeks in New York each winter.
About a week later the elder Fairfields departed, and Mrs. Allen arrived.
She was a fine-looking lady of a youthful middle age, and looked forward with pleasure to her visit with Patty.