“I do too,” chimed in Dotty. “But Bernice is nicer than she used to be, more pleasant, you know. And maybe there won’t be anything to say about her party, except nice things.”
“She’ll probably have a brass band and supper from New York,” laughed Trudy.
“Well, I want you to be nice to her, Dolly,” said Mr. Fayre. “Mr. Forbes has been exceedingly kind to me of late, and if you can do anything for his motherless girl, you do it.”
“Yes, Dad,” said Dolly, meekly, though her heart was singing for joy that she was already carrying out her father’s wishes.
“Why I thought Mr. Forbes was an awful strict, stern man,” said Trudy.
“He is,” returned her father. “And he’s a just and particular man, in his business relations, as, of course, he ought to be.”
“Couldn’t you ask him, Father, not to let us go away from Berwick?” suggested Dolly, timidly.
“Gracious, no, child. I wouldn’t dream of such a thing! If he says go, I must go. But he spoke to-day as if the matter were still in abeyance—”
“In where?”
“Never mind your geography, Dollums. You wouldn’t find abeyance in any Christian country. I mean he spoke as if my going away is still uncertain.”