Indeed, she was a long time getting back to the gardens, and when they were reached, she asked that the carriage might be made ready at once to take her over to Lea Abbey.
"When do you want us to go to London?" Caroline asked her as they went indoors together.
"Next week.... I don't know.... I will write. It seems a sin to take the chicks away from here. How well they look!"
A little later, when she was getting into the carriage, Mrs. Lancing drew the girl towards her.
"Don't let them forget me...." Her voice had an odd, dry sound. "Don't let them suppose I am forgetting because they do not see me. Children can forget so easily." She pressed Caroline's hand. "It is funny," she said, in an unsteady way. "I never left them before without yearning to be back the moment they were out of sight; but I leave them with you, almost happily, you funny little cross-patch Caroline."
Caroline looked at her. Once again there were tears in her eyes.
"Come back soon," she said. "Come back and let us make you well. We all want you."
Their hands unclasped, the door was shut, and the carriage rolled away.
At the bend of the drive Mrs. Lancing leaned forward and waved her hand out of the window.
Caroline stood a minute or two and watched the carriage roll out of sight. The air was fragrant with the scent of spring, laden with the whispers of a thousand unseen blossoms.