Indeed Esther found that she had to notice things much more closely than she had ever done before, and this was rather interesting, she thought. She and the boys all began noticing everything, so that Esther might tell about it to Mr. Trelawny; and she was sure he liked it, though he did not exactly say so, but made his funny snorts, and seemed trying to trip her up with his questions. But she was not afraid of him now, and she did not mind if she did make a mistake. She found she was learning a great deal more than she had ever known before about the world she lived in, and that in itself was very interesting.
One day at the end of the week, she came in to her mother and found her with an open letter in her hand and a rather perplexed face.
"Is anything the matter, mama?" she asked.
"O my dear! I hardly know. No, nothing is the matter, but it is such a sudden thing to suggest. I have got a letter from Mr. Trelawny."
"O mama! then can he see again?"
"No, my dear. It was not written by him, but only at his dictation. There is a good deal of reason in what he says, but it is all so unexpected."
"What is it, mama?"
"He asks if I will shut up the Hermitage for the winter, and come with you all and stay at the Crag."
"O mama! Why?"
"To keep him company, he says. To cheer him up. To make a little life about the old house for a poor blind man."