“We needn't call them vultures exactly,” was Little Ann's tolerant comment; “but a lot of people will come here to see you. That was one of the things I thought I might tell you about.”
“Say, you're a wonder!”
“I'm nothing of the sort. I'm just a girl with a bit of common sense—and grandmother's one that's looked on a long time, and she sees things. The country gentlemen will begin to call on you soon, and then you'll be invited to their houses to meet their wives and daughters, and then you'll be kept pretty busy.”
Hutchinson's bluff chuckle broke out again.
“You will that, my lad, when th' match-making mothers get after you. There's plenty on 'em.”
“Father's joking,” she said. Her tone was judicially unprejudiced. “There are young ladies that—that'd be very suitable. Pretty ones and clever ones. You'll see them all.”
“I don't want to see them.”
“You can't help it,” she said, with mild decision. “When there are daughters and a new gentleman comes into a big property in the neighborhood, it's nothing but natural that the mothers should be a bit anxious.”
“Aye, they'll be anxious enough. Mak' sure o' that,” laughed Hutchinson.
“Is that what you want me to put on style for, Little Ann?” Tembarom asked reproachfully.