When her father returned in the evening, he found her very anxious to learn the result of his second journey to London.
"Were you in time?" she asked.
"Yes. It's all settled, my dear."
"I am very glad of that," she murmured; "there is no uncertainty about our next step."
"No—we must see Sidney now, dissolve partnership, and put the shutters up, Mattie."
"We must write to him in a day or two about the partnership—I would prefer that they know nothing of our intentions until the last instant—until we are ready to go—perhaps until we are gone. I don't think I could stand up against all their good-byes and best wishes—I would rather go away quietly, with you and Ann."
"Ann!"
"We must not forget her."
"She'll never go to the Cape, my dear—she can't go to Finsbury to bank her wages without hysterics, now."
"Because she's nervous, and I don't go with her," said Mattie.