"I had a pretty rough time of it for two years, mother, during the war but, with that exception, my life has been a very pleasant one; and I have had nothing, whatever, to grumble about.
"This is a pretty house that you have chosen, mother, and the garden is charming. How I have longed, sometimes, for the sight of an English garden. Of course I have never seen one before, but I have heard you talk of them, and thought how delightful the green grass must be. Of course we had flowers in Burma--plenty of them--and shrubs; but it was not green, like this. It is charming."
"Yes, it is a pretty house, Stanley. We moved in here five years ago--thanks to you, dear boy--and it has been a very quiet, happy time. We have a good many friends now, among our neighbours; and have quite as much society as I care for.
"I suppose you have not yet decided whether you will live here, with us," she said, a little anxiously, "or set up an establishment of your own."
"Of course I shall stay here, mother. I never thought of anything else. I see that you have some stables. I shall get a couple of horses, and drive into town, in the mornings. I have got out of the way of walking, altogether.
"And where is Kate?"
"You will see her presently. She will be here to dinner, with Agnes and Harry. I sent her off, because I wanted to have you all to myself, for the first hour. The others came up to town, three days ago, on purpose to be here when you arrived. Of course, we heard when your ship called at Plymouth. We had been looking for her, for your last letter told us the name of the vessel that you were coming by; so I wrote to them, and they came up at once. They wanted us to go and dine with them, but I would not hear of it. I was sure that you would much rather dine quietly, here, than in state in Portman Square, with three or four footmen behind our chairs."
"Ever so much better, mother. I suppose I shall hardly know Agnes, but Harry cannot have altered much; besides, I have seen him four years later than her."
Harry's greeting was of the heartiest kind. Stanley's sisters felt, at first, a little strange with this brother of whom they had but a faint remembrance.
"It does not seem to me, Harry, that your dignities have tamed you down much."