As Dr. Reed ceased speaking the carriage drew up before a handsome house in a square, the windows of which were all lit up, and Violet realised she had arrived, at last, at her new home.
[CHAPTER VI]
NEWS FROM VIOLET
PERHAPS Violet's first impressions in connection with her new home and its inmates will be best told in the long letter she wrote to her mother on the afternoon after her arrival at Barford, of which the following is a copy:—
"No. 8 LAURESTON SQUARE," "BARFORD, January 18th, 190—"
"My DEAR MOTHER,"
"I know Dr. Reed sent you a telegram last night to tell you I had arrived safely, but you will be expecting to receive a letter from me to-morrow; and, as I promised, I am taking the first opportunity I have of writing. I had such a nice journey—after the first hour I really enjoyed it. Please tell father the lady who sat opposite to me was very kind and made me share her luncheon, which was handed in at one of the stations in a basket. I had some of her chicken and ham, and she had some of my sandwiches, which she said were very good and cut just as she liked them—please tell Barbara that. I did not think the lady was a person of any importance, because she was very plainly dressed and seemed quite ordinary in every way, but she turns out to be a very clever lady doctor, called Dr. Elizabeth Ridgeway, and Dr. Reed knows her well and often meets her in consultation, and I find she is very friendly with Mrs. Reed and Ann."
"Dr. Reed met me at the station. I was glad to see him. I drove home with him in his brougham—it was snowing—and he inquired for you all and was so glad to hear that father's cough was gone; and Mrs. Reed came out on the doorstep, though it was so cold, and she kissed me in a way that reminded me of you, dear mother, and that made me feel all chokey and unable to say anything. And then, in the hall, I met Ann, who kissed me, too, but I really have no idea what she said, for everything was so strange that I felt quite bewildered. They led me upstairs to the room which is to be mine, where they took off my hat and jacket, and Ann unbuttoned my boots and lent me a pair of warm slippers; and then they made me sit down in an easy chair by the fire (fancy me having a fire in my bedroom!) and take a basinful of soup, after which I was heaps better—I had been feeling rather queer and shakey before, and would have given anything to be at home, which was silly of me, of course."
"So I sat there and rested, and got beautifully warm, and by-and-by my trunk arrived, and Mrs. Reed unpacked it for me—I expected she would look surprised when she saw how few clothes I have, but she didn't, nor did Ann. My supper was brought upstairs to me; and then I went to bed and slept until ever so late this morning, and now I am only a little tired."
"We have had a great deal of snow during the night, so there will be no going out-of-doors to-day. This is a nice big house and very comfortable, but not at all grand. It is on the south side of the square, and the front door opens into the road. There is no garden—there are stables behind—but there is a large piece of ground in the middle of the square with a croquet lawn, and shrubs, and flower-beds, and the people who live in the square all pay towards keeping this ground in nice condition, so that they all have a share in it and the right to go there whenever they please. Arm says she spends a good bit of time there in the summer, so I expect I shall, too."