"I shall be most happy," said Jack, and he looked so pleased that I felt sure he was as curious concerning the contents of that envelope as I was.
We found Aunt Patty in the drawing-room. Our eager faces told her we brought news ere I gave her the letter.
It was not long, and she quickly scanned it; then said as she handed it to me:
"A nice letter, but not at all the kind of application I expected. The writer is a gentleman."
"I knew it," I said with a glance at Jack, and proceeded to read the following:
"Dear Madam,—I have recently returned from India, ill-health having compelled me to resign the professorship in an Anglo-Indian college which I have held for nearly five years. I am still somewhat of an invalid and find London life far too exhausting for my nerves. My physician advises me to live in the country for some months. Your advertisement seems to offer me the kind of home I desire, where I could pursue my studies in quiet and enjoy the advantages of a country life while keeping in touch with London. Will you kindly let me know whether you can give me a large and airy bedroom which I could also use to some extent as a study? Please state exactly on what terms you could offer it. A reply at your earliest convenience will greatly oblige."
"Yours faithfully,"
"ALAN FAULKNER."
"Oh, auntie!" I exclaimed as I put down the letter. "To think of our having a professor here! It seems to me rather alarming."
"I should not have thought you would have found it so," said Jack. "I expect he is quite harmless."
"I dare say he will be absorbed in his studies and won't expect much from us in the way of entertainment," said Aunt Patty. "He is human, if he is a professor, and I believe I can make him comfortable. The room above this is large and airy enough, I should think. We could easily screen off the bed and make it look like a sitting-room."
"You thought of putting two beds there," I said. "Yes, but I may have no application for a double-bedded room," she replied, "and he ought to have a large room if he is going to spend so much of his time in it. He will be a man to suit your father, Jack. I dare say they will draw together."