Kenneth came back to importune Michael for a walk as far as Grogg’s Folly.
“It’s such fun for Kenneth to have you here!” Mrs. Ross exclaimed. “I’ve never seen him so boisterously happy.”
“I used to enjoy myself here just as much as he does,” said Michael. “Though perhaps I didn’t show it. I always think of myself as rather a dreary little beast when I was a kid.”
“On the contrary, you were a most attractive boy; such a wide-eyed little boy,” said Mrs. Ross softly, looking back into time. “I’ve seldom seen you so happy as just before I blew out your candle the first night of your first stay here.”
“I say, do come up the hill,” interrupted Kenneth despairingly.
“A thousand apologies, my lord,” said Michael. “We’ll go now.”
They did not stop until they reached the tower on the summit.
“When I was your age,” Michael told him, “I used to think that I could see the whole of England from here.”
“Could you really?” said Kenneth, in admiration. “Could you see any of France, too?”
“I expect so,” Michael answered. “I expect really I thought I could see the whole world. Kenneth, what are you going to be when you grow up? A soldier?”