"You see the likeness, too?" she asked, with a thrill of pride.
"The moment he alighted at the station. We'll seat him under it at dinner—a plot!" said the vicar, smiling, and he caught her hand in his in a way that would have been pleasant to an observer. But if there had been an observer it would not have happened.
Voices were heard on the lawn and they looked out to see Phil and Henriette returning. His American accent which had sounded strange at first grew attractive to Mrs. Sanford. She herself showed him to his room to make sure that everything was right. The hot water "can," as he would have called it, was standing in the wash basin covered with a towel to retain the heat. His bag was unpacked and his toilet articles were laid out.
"The maids do that for you in England?" he said.
"Don't yours?" she inquired.
"Not Jane in a thousand years. She would regard me as a mollycoddle if I permitted it. Sometimes they do it in country houses which are as big as hotels on the hills outside Longfield."
"Strange!" she murmured.
"And I am to put my shoes, I mean my boots, outside the door at night?" he asked.
She was not quite certain of herself, being apprehensive of some American joke back of the question.
"Of course," she said.