“It truly is,” returned Polly with assurance. “Think of those dear children! Oh, if you could see them outdoors as I do! The rides have done them no end of good—you know how Little Duke has improved.”
Dr. Dudley brightened. “That boy’s gain is astonishing.”
“And it isn’t medicine that has done it,” observed Polly; “it is fresh air.”
The Doctor nodded musingly.
Polly’s thoughts skipped from Little Duke to Esther Tenniel, the gentle little English maid who—however shy she might be with others—never hesitated to put her arms round the Doctor’s neck, just as if she were his own little girl. “I believe,” she said, “that a few months of Overlook would make a new child of Esther.”
“I should like to see it tried,” Dr. Dudley admitted.
“Then we’ll try it!” exclaimed Polly ecstatically.
“I shall have to leave it to your judgment,” said the Doctor. “I don’t like to beg for too much.”
“Beg!” laughed Polly—“oh, father!”
“You haven’t even asked for my approval,” smiled Mrs. Dudley.