So it was arranged. After breakfast Mr. Basset took Josephine to look at his chrysanthemums, which were in full bloom. Then he showed her what he called his "winter garden" —the green house where grew primulas, cyclamens, heaths, and other plants which flower about Christmas under glass. And all the while he talked to her of her father, telling her stories of his boyhood, and assuring her that Paul had always been a very dear boy, hearing which, she felt that already she loved Uncle John very much. She left him reluctantly when it was time for her to go to get ready for the drive to Midbury; for his talk had cheered her, and soothed the heartache which, though she never spoke of it, had not left her since she and her father had been separated.
Miss Basset always started for market at eleven o clock; so ten minutes after that hour found her, accompanied by the three children, driving along the road towards the town.
"We must not hurry Tommy, for he has a heavier load than he's accustomed to," she remarked; "let him take his time."
Tommy's pace, on the outward journey, was not much faster than a man would walk, and when he came to the hill May had mentioned he stopped of his own accord. The little girls got out and walked the hill, arriving at the top as soon as the carriage. There a halt was made for a few minutes so that Josephine should look at the view—a beautifully wooded valley in the midst of which lay the town.
"This is Tor Hill," said Miss Basset, "and that thatched house nearly at the foot of the hill is the blacksmith's—between that and the town there is only one other dwelling—Vine Cottage—"
"Oh, such a funny old woman lives there, Josephine!" May interposed; "she's called Mrs. Rumbelow, and she's bent almost two-double! She lives quite by herself, I believe."
"Look, Josephine," said Miss Basset, "you can see the tower of the parish church—it's almost in the centre of the town. But that's not the church we attend as a rule. There's a church much nearer where we generally go. Come, dears!"
Josephine and May took their seats in the carriage again. Tommy descended the hill carefully, passed the blacksmith's, and, a few minutes later, Vine Cottage; then, on reaching the town, suddenly began to trot. He trotted along the principal street, Fore Street, and, turning down a side street, arrived at a large square space on one side of which were the market buildings. There, close to the entrance of the butter market, he pulled up.
"He knows exactly where to stop," Miss Basset remarked, as she handed the reins to Donald and got out of the carriage followed by the two little girls. "We shall not be long, I expect, Donald."
"Oh, don't hurry, Aunt Ann!" the boy answered; "I like watching the people."