After that the ladies talked without reserve. Before Mrs. Compton left she asked Miss Warren to return her call, but the invitation was firmly though politely declined, and the reason frankly given—Miss Warren would not enter the doors which were shut against her niece, and she desired Sir Richard Gidley might be told so.
Meanwhile, Lionel and Dick were hurrying up the hill towards Granfer Cole's cottage.
"I'm glad you could come," Lionel said cordially; "I thought it would be better if we could go together."
"I hope we shall find Granfer Cole at home! Does Aunt Arabella know where we're going?"
"No. There was no need to tell her, and she didn't ask. Ruth would have been here, but she's in disgrace. All her own fault too, the little silly! Grandfather caught her sliding down the bannisters yesterday, and he was waxy and told her not to do it again, and she promised faithfully she wouldn't! Just as we were starting this afternoon, and only waiting for her, she must needs come sliding down the bannisters at an awful rate, and there was grandfather in the hall looking on! When she saw him she was so frightened that she gave a great yell, and he ordered her to go back and spend the afternoon in her bedroom, for punishment, for having disobeyed him! She cried, but he didn't care; he was in a dreadful temper, and called her a hoyden, and said one of these days she would break her neck! I don't think she will; she's pretty careful!"
"Do you think she forgot she'd promised not to do it again?" Dick enquired, feeling extremely sorry for the little girl's disappointment.
"I don't know, I'm sure. Perhaps she did," Lionel replied, though in his heart he believed to the contrary. "It's rather rough on her," he continued, "for she made up her mind to go with us this afternoon, but we're just as well without her—girls are so fussy and full of chatter!"
They were within sight of Granfer Cole's cottage by this time, and paused, warm and breathless—for they had been walking at a great rate—to look back the way they had come. Before their eyes lay the village of Holton, with a vast stretch of blue sea beyond. An excursion boat laden with passengers was steaming up the channel, not so far from land but that the boys could distinguish movements on board; and a schooner, with sails unfurled to catch the fresh breeze, was making for the nearest port, towed by a pilot-boat; whilst far in the distance, against the horizon, a fleet of trawlers caught the sunlight against their red-brown sails. Around the cliffs seagulls hovered, their wings gleaming like silver, now soaring upwards, now dipping into the unruffled bosom of the ocean.
"Isn't it a grand view from here?" Lionel exclaimed admiringly. "Has there been a storm since you've been in Holton?"
"No," Dick replied. "I came in June, and the weather has been very fine, except for a few wet days—the sea was not rough even then."