"Very well, my boy, that will do."
"Shall I tell Mamma it's settled?"
"Yes." He clasped the child to him. "My Addie, my boy, my darling, my darling!"
"Silly old Father!"
He remained on Van der Welcke's knee, cheek to cheek. Outside, in the Voorhout, the rain pelted on the bare March trees; and grey mists loomed out of the distance, pale and shapeless, while the damp evening fell....
CHAPTER IX
That evening, after dinner, Van der Welcke, Constance and Addie went to Mrs. van Lowe's, where they found Dorine, who wanted to meet her brother-in-law.
"I was thinking of you to-day," she said. "I had a lot of errands to do, for Bertha; and so, as I was going through the town, I thought to myself, 'I'll go on to Duinoord and see if there are many houses to let.' I'm simply worn out!"
"But Dorine, how sweet of you!" said Constance.