The young men bowed.
“Oh, indeed!” said Zephyr. “How’d he come here listening?”
“Chance, chance, Mr. Wetherley. I have just returned from school. Pretty tough old school-boy, hey? Well, it’s all the grandpa’s doing. Grandpas are extraordinary beings, Mr. Wetherley. Now there was—”
“Oh, indeed! Really, I must go. Good-morning, Miss Newt. Good-morning, Sir.” And Mr. Zephyr Wetherley departed.
The brother and sister laughed.
“Sensible fellow,” said Abel; “he flies the grandpas.”
“How did you come here, you wretch!” asked Fanny, “listening to my secrets?”
“My dear, I arrived this morning, only half an hour ago. I let myself in by my pass-key, and, hearing voices in the parlor, I went round by the conservatory to spy out the land. Then and there I beheld this spectacle. Fanny, you’re wonderful.”
Miss Newt made a demure courtesy.
“So you’ve really come home for good? Well, Abel, I’m glad. Now you’re here I shall have a man of my own to attend me next winter. And there’s to be the handsome Boston bride here, you know, next season.”