"Oh, auntie!" I exclaimed. "You don't mean it! Not to Mr. Dicks?"
"To no less a person than Josiah Dicks," replied Aunt Patty with twinkling eyes.
I was not altogether surprised, and yet the news was sufficiently exciting. So this was how the American would evince his gratitude for Miss Cottrell's devotion to his daughter!
"Well, I never!" I exclaimed. "But they always got on well together. Of course she is delighted, for he has so much money and she thinks a great deal of wealth."
"Come, come, don't be too hard on Miss Cottrell!" my aunt replied. "Give her credit for better feelings. In spite of her faults—and they are not very serious ones, after all—she has a large heart, and I believe she really loves Mr. Dicks."
"Auntie! Is it possible?" I cried. "But poor Paulina! How does she like it? It must be a trial to her."
"On the contrary, Miss Cottrell assures me that she is quite pleased," my aunt said.
But that statement I took with a grain of salt. I remembered Miss Cottrell's talent for embroidering facts, and classed the pleasure she ascribed to Paulina with her glowing descriptions of dear Lady Mowbray's' attachment to herself.
"When will they be back?" I asked.
"The Dickses? On Wednesday week," aunt replied.