Mrs. Hartwell-Jones would have liked a sweeter, more intimate title, but she guessed that Letty would find it too hard to confer the beloved name of mother upon any one else; so she accepted the other and they were both satisfied and contented.
“‘Aunt Mary,’” whispered Letty again and again. “It is a beautiful name and just like yourself, Mrs. Hart—I mean Aunt Mary,” she added tremulously.
[CHAPTER XXI—CONCLUSION]
The twins greeted Letty’s return tumultuously. They had been very indignant over her journey and had considered it most unnecessary and thoughtless of Mrs. Hartwell-Jones to take Letty away at such a critical time, thus threatening to upset all their plans. But two days were not so very long.
“You almost spoiled everything, but only almost, so it’s all right,” said Jane magnanimously.
“We did a lot of practicing,” added Christopher with his mouth full of chocolate, “and this is fine candy, thank you.”
“We’ve kept the secret splendidly and not a soul knows anything except those who are in it,” went on Jane importantly.
In fact, the children were planning an immense surprise for the celebration of the last evening at Sunnycrest. The great scheme was Christopher’s idea, and he found some difficulty at first in persuading Letty to take her part in it. She consented at length, partly for the fun of it, partly because she was so happy that she wanted to do whatever any one asked her to do.
A great mystery pervaded the place—a mystery which the grown-ups had to be very careful at times not to see through, for the children found it hard, in their joy and excitement, not to betray secrets. Billy Carpenter was included in the affair, and he and Christopher spent hours every day in the hayloft, rehearsing some private performance which resulted in a good deal of thumping and an occasional hard bump. They also did a great deal of hammering and sawing, which employment demanded frequent calls upon Jo Perkins’s time and even upon Joshua’s valuable moments.
Letty and Jane were busy, too, in Jane’s room, snipping and sewing away at costumes. They made an unexplained trip into the village one morning in the pony carriage. Jane had her allowance and Letty was enjoying the unexpected, undreamed-of thrill of possessing her own spending money. On their return they smuggled their packages up to Jane’s room and confided their purchases to no one but Christopher.