"You are not old, and you are not foolish, but a dear kind Auntie who is going to tell us all about it."
"I am not quite so foolish as to be taken in by all these blandishments; but, joking apart, dears, I ought not to tell you more; your parents will do so when they think right."
At this, both the girls returned to their seats, and lessons went on quietly. Milly was found not to be so very much behind Lena, for she had been well and carefully taught by her mother, who had used the very same books of instruction that Miss Somerville had taught Lena from. So that the two sisters would be able to go on together with the same governess; and both girls were quite pleased at the thought of doing the same lessons. All was as it should be. Lena was a little advanced, but not too much so to make it difficult for Milly to keep up with her, but enough to spur Lena on to keep in advance.
"Is it true we are to have a governess? and are we going to another house?" were the questions that were eagerly put to Mama on the very first opportunity.
"I have been letting out secrets, I am afraid," said Miss Somerville.
"I meant to tell them what their Papa had decided upon. He has taken a house in the country—a furnished one, near the friends with whom he is now staying. The people to whom it belongs are anxious to leave as soon as they can, so Papa says, he hopes we will be able to go there in a fortnight."
"In a fortnight!" This sudden move quite took away Lena's breath; to leave Aunt Mary and her own home! for Scarsdale Villa was the only home Lena could remember. Then she gave a little laugh at this foolish thought of hers. "Leave Aunt Mary! of course she would go with them."
Milly was busy asking questions about the new house—"Was it quite in the country? had it a garden?"
All these questions were answered satisfactorily. "It was quite in the country, with a nice garden, and some fields attached to it," Mama said.
"What is to be done with this house?" Lena asked.