"Indeed, uncle, we have talked of coming, but we have been very busy lately."
"Busy! Pooh! What can you have to be busy about, I should like to know?"
"Well, uncle, you know we are having literature lectures now at Woodham, and I have to study hard in order to get all the good that I can from them."
An impatient frown came to the old man's face.
"Lectures! Pshaw! What good can they do you?"
"A great deal, I think, uncle," said Aldyth, cheerfully; "I am learning many things I did not know before."
"Rubbish. You know enough. Did you not go to a first-class school?"
"Yes, uncle; but whilst I was there, I had little time for studying poetry."
"What do you want to study poetry for? It will only put ideas into your head that are better out of it. I never studied poetry or attended lectures, and I have got on very well without doing so."
It was difficult to reply to this emphatic statement. Aldyth left it undisputed, and turned to caress one of the dogs.