"Oh, and do you think he will call to-day?" Miss Warren asked eagerly, her face full of excitement, her bright eyes fixed on her brother's face.
"Impossible to say. He may, or he may wait to hear from us that Dick is here. However, I shall write a note to him after breakfast, and send it to the Manor House at once. I do not know how he will act; possibly he may call."
"Of course, that would be the right course for him to take," Miss Warren remarked. "Are you looking forward to seeing your grandfather, Dick?"
"Yes, Aunt Mary Ann," the little boy answered. He was very curious to meet this relation of his, of whose existence he had not been aware till lately. He had no means of guessing why his parents had not spoken to him of Sir Richard Gidley until they had been about to send him to England. He knew they must have had a reason for not having done so, and he felt decidedly puzzled.
"I don't know much about him," he proceeded, "except that he is my grandfather. Mother says he is a lonely old man, and that I must not be afraid of him. Why should I be afraid of him?" he asked, looking questioningly from one face to the other.
"There is no reason, Dick," Dr. Warren answered. "Sir Richard is often gruff in his manner, and speaks out sharply. No doubt your mother remembered that. She never knew him well herself, because your parents went abroad directly they were married. I daresay Sir Richard will ask you to go to the Manor House, and you will like that, will you not?"
"I don't know, Uncle Theophilus. Is it a very grand place?"
"Not now; for Sir Richard does not keep it up as he used. Still, it is a fine old house with many objects of interest about it. Several of the rooms are shut-up, I believe, as your grandfather employs only a few women-servants now-a-days. Are you fond of pictures? Yes? Well there's a picture-gallery at the Manor House where you will find likenesses of many generations of your ancestors."
"What are ancestors?" Dick asked, hoping he was not showing great ignorance by the question.
"Those from whom you are descended—those of your race who lived before you. For instance, your grandfather is your ancestor. Do you understand?"