"We did not notice his carriage anywhere," Miss Warren remarked.
"He is walking," Miss Tidy replied. "I always say that in spite of his age, he is the finest man in the district. Ah!" bending across the counter and fixing her keen eyes on Dick, "as I told the doctor the other day, your little nephew's a Gidley, every inch of him."
"He resembles his father in features," Miss Warren allowed; "but he is like his mother, too. I want some notepaper, if you please."
Whilst Miss Warren was selecting what she required, the post-mistress kept up a run of small talk. She had seen little Dick driven past in Sir Richard's carriage, and would fain have known how he was received at the Manor House. However, she contented herself with asking him how he liked his grandfather's home, and if he had ever seen so fine an abode in India.
"No; never," Dick answered promptly. "I think it's a lovely place, but a great deal too big for one person to live in."
"So it is," Miss Tidy agreed, laughing. "And Sir Richard only keeps a few women-servants now instead of a proper establishment. I often think it's not right there should be no able-bodied man in the house. Groves, the coachman, lives at the lodge, and the stableman sleeps over the stables, right away from the house. Suppose anything happened—a burglary, or a fire!"
"We must hope nothing of the kind will ever happen," Miss Warren said, smiling at the look of concern on Miss Tidy's face. "I think that is all I require to-day."
"Thank you, ma'am. I'll send the parcel up to your house this evening. Good afternoon, ma'am! I daresay you'll meet Sir Richard before you reach home; he must have been in a shop as you came down the street."
But, as it happened, Miss Warren was not at all anxious to meet Sir Richard. Accordingly, she turned in the direction of the beach, where she found a shady spot, and sat down to rest, whilst her little nephew roamed about within call and sight.
The sea always had a great attraction for Dick. To-day, the tide being out, he wandered between the rocks, delighted with the treasures he discovered—beautiful shells, delicately-tinted anemones, and sea-weeds of various hues; but, at length, tired himself, he returned to Miss Warren, and a short while later they retraced their footsteps homewards.