“Yes. I showed it also to Miss Dinah. I asked her advice.”
“And what did she say,—what did she advise?”
“She said she 'd think over it and tell me to-morrow.”
“To-morrow! Why not now,—why not at once?” cried he, impatiently. “I 'll speak to her myself;” and he hurried to the little room where Miss Dinah was making tea.
It was not a very long interview; and Hunter returned, fond, radiant, and triumphant. “She's the cleverest old woman I ever met in my life,” said he; “and the best, besides, after my Aunt Dorothy. She said that such an invitation as that was too cordial to be coldly declined; that it meant more—far more—than a politeness; that you ought to go, yes, by all means; and if there was any difficulty about the journey, or any awkwardness in travelling so far, why, there was an easy remedy for it, as well as for meeting my aunt a perfect stranger.”
“And what was that?”
“To go as her niece, dearest Polly,—to be the wife of a man who loves you.”
“Is it possible that you have so much to say to each other that you won't take tea?” cried Aunt Dinah; while she whispered to Withering, “I declare we shall never have a sociable moment till they're all married off, and learn to conduct themselves like reasonable creatures.”
Is it not the best testimony we can give to happiness, that it is a thing to feel and not describe,—to be enjoyed, but not pictured? It is like a debt that I owe to my reader, to show him “The Home” as it was when blissful hearts were gathered under its roof; and yet, for the life of me, I cannot acquit myself of it. To say that there were old people with their memories of the past, and young ones with their hopes of the future; that there were bygones to sigh over, and vistas to gaze at, conveys but little of the kindliness by which heart opened to heart, and sorrow grew lighter by mutual endurance, and joys became brighter as they were imparted to another.
“So I find,” said Barrington, as they sat at breakfast together, “that Josephine insists on going back to the convent, and Fred is resolved on an exchange into the Infantry, and is off for Canada immediately.”