“Which I certainly shall do. Well, Mr. Churchill, why not write to these ladies and ask if they know their address? They probably do.”
“I never thought of that, sir; but I’ll write to them this very day. Thank you very much for thinking of it, squire.”
And Mr. Churchill accordingly did write to Miss Webster, and after apologizing for troubling her, told her that he was getting anxious at not hearing from his daughter, and asked her to be good enough to give him Mrs. John Temple’s address, if she knew it. And he added, “Mr. Temple, the squire of Woodlea, was here this morning, and will be glad also to hear from his nephew.”
An answer to this letter was most anxiously expected at Woodside, and after two days one came, which was as follows:
“Dear Sir: I am sorry I can not give you the information you require regarding the address of Mr. and Mrs. John Temple, as we have heard nothing from them since the day Mr. John Temple arrived here and took your daughter away for a proposed short visit to the seaside. But the same day that you called and told us Mr. Temple of Woodlea Hall would be glad to receive the young people, I felt it was my pleasing duty to write a few lines to Mr. John Temple to tell him of your visit, and also of his uncle’s sanction to his marriage. I sent this letter to the Grosvenor Hotel, where he sometimes stays while in town, but I have received no reply. And therefore we—my sister and myself—can only conclude that Mr. and Mrs. John Temple must have gone abroad, and have not received my letter.
“Trusting, however, that you will soon hear from them, I remain,
“Yours sincerely,
”Margaret Webster.”
“Yes, that’s it; no doubt they are abroad,” said Mr. Churchill, after he had read Miss Webster’s letter, handing it to his wife.
“Of course, they may be,” replied his wife.