It was all over by half-past ten, and the trio were alone together. “How amusing Mr. Leslie is!” said the young Mrs. Brownlow. “He knows how describe as few people do.”
“Did you see Janet listening to him,” said her grandmother, “with her brows pulled down and her eyes sparkling out under them, wanting to devour every word?”
“Yes,” returned the Doctor, “I saw it, and I longed to souse that black head of hers with salt water. I don’t like brains to grow to the contempt of healthful play.”
“People never know when they are well off! I wonder what you would have said if you had had a lot of stupid dolts, boys always being plucked, &c.”
“Don’t plume yourself too soon, Mother Carey; only one chick has gone through the first ordeal.”
“And if Allen did, Bobus will.”
“Allen is quite as clever as Bobus, granny, if—” eagerly said the mother.
“If—” said the father; “there’s the point. If Allen has the stimulus, he will do well. I own I am particularly pleased with his success, because perseverance is his weak point.”
“Carey kept him up to it,” said granny. “I believe his success is quite as much her work as his own.”
“And the question is, how will he get on without his mother to coach him?”