"Oh! will he?" exclaimed Hannah, between her teeth.
"Yes; and—Mr. Herman Brudenell is a very kind gentleman, is he not?"
"Very," muttered Hannah.
"You were very well acquainted with him, were you not?"
"Yes."
"You answer so shortly, Aunt Hannah. Didn't you like young Mr. Herman Brudenell?"
"I—don't know whether I did or not; but, Ishmael, I can't scrub and talk at the same time. Go out and chop me some wood; and then go and dig some potatoes, and beets, and cut a cabbage—a white-head mind! and then go to the spring and bring a bucket of water; and make haste; but don't talk to me any more, if you can help it."
Ishmael went out immediately to obey, and as the sound of his ax was heard Hannah muttered to herself:
"Herman Brudenell coming back to the Hall to live!" And she fell into deep thought.
Ishmael was intelligent enough to divine that his Aunt Hannah did not wish to talk of Mr. Herman Brudenell.