"She will just suit me," said Mr. Strathmore, emphatically. "She is evidently a lady, and she will be an agreeable companion if I am not mistaken. Mrs. Martin was a good housekeeper, but she had no idea outside of her duties. I could not chat with her unless I talked about cooking. My evenings were solitary. She spent the time in the kitchen or in her own room. Now the house will be really social."
"I am delighted to have suited you, Uncle Ben."
"Where in the world did you come across Mrs. Rollins? Have you known her long?"
"I became acquainted through her son Rupert, to whom I introduced you."
"He seems a fine, manly boy. He can stay here, too. I will find something for him to do."
"Thank you, Uncle Ben, but I shall find him a place in New York. He prefers the city, and it will afford him more opportunities of advancement. Rupert is ambitious, and I predict that he will rise in time to an excellent position."
"Just as you think best, Frank; but remember that if ever there is need, or he becomes sick, there is room for him here."
To anticipate a little. Mr. Strathmore was not disappointed in Mrs. Rollins. It came to be her custom to spend the evenings with her employer. Sometimes she read aloud to him. At others, while she was engaged in needlework, and Grace, now restored to health, was occupied with her books, the old gentleman sat back in his easy chair, and with calm content watched his companions. He no longer felt his former burden of solitude.
"I have never been happier," he wrote later on to his nephew. "I regretted the loss of Mrs. Martin, but now I feel that it was for my happiness, since it has opened the way for such an acceptable substitute."
Rupert went at first to the house of Mr. Sylvester, where their acquaintance soon ripened into friendship.