The twins looked at him, laid their heads together, and giggled; then, when he went towards the door, they hung round him, and Katie whispered,
“Listen; we know something.”
“Well, what is it?”
“Something nice,” said Greta, mysteriously.
“Out with it.”
“Elsbeth Douglas has come home again.”
And breaking out into merry laughter they ran away.
Paul at first felt very angry that they dared to mock him; then he sighed and smiled, and wondered why his heart had suddenly begun to beat so loudly.
Half an hour later his family drove away.
“Do join us soon,” his mother called down to him from the carriage, and Katie getting into it whispered into his ear,