"Oh, this is the public parlor," she said, "although everything about this house seems private at present. We generally have families staying with us in the summer, but last week nearly all of them went away to the sea-shore. In a few days, however, we expect to be full again."
She immediately began to talk about Walford, for evidently the subject interested her, and I answered all her questions as well as I could.
"You may know that my husband taught that school. I was his scholar before I became his wife."
I had heard of a Mr. Chester who, before me, had taught the school, but, although the information had not interested me at the time, now it did. I wished very much to ask what Mr. Chester was doing at present, but I waited.
"I went to boarding-school after I left Walford," said she, "and so for a time lost sight of the village, although I have often visited it since."
"How long is it since Mr. Chester gave up the school there?" I asked.
This proved to be a very good question indeed. "About six years," she said. "He gave it up just before we were married. He did not like teaching school, and as the death of his father put him into the possession of some money, he was able to change his mode of life. It was by accident that we settled here as innkeepers. We happened to pass the place, and Mr. Chester was struck by its beauty. It was not an inn then, but he thought it would make a charming one, and he also thought that this sort of life would suit him exactly. He was a student, a great reader, and a lover of rural sports—such as fishing and all that."
'She Began to Talk About Walford'