"He may at least give you credit for being disinterested," said Letty. "But have you seen Mr. Grayson yourself?"
"Yes; I spoke to him to-night. He was very civil,—said there was no hurry; he thought it would be better for me to lay out the money on my business; but I told him the money was yours, and you preferred to have it used in this way.
"'What!' said he. 'In paying debts rather than in buying new furniture or finery?'
"And then he wiped his glasses a while, and said he,—
"'My good friend, let me give you one piece of advice. You make your will and leave this place to your wife; or, better still, deed it to her now: she is a woman who can be trusted; and you won't die any the sooner for having your affairs arranged.'"
John concluded rightly. The only effect of his advice was that Joseph gave his building to some one else,—a Mr. Carr. John had not a high opinion of the man, but, of course, said nothing about him. Materials were soon collected, and the work of building began. They had at first intended only to make one large room for a parlour; but Mr. Carr suggested that it would be very convenient to have a nursery down-stairs; and, now that they were about it, it would not cost much more: so the nursery was added to the original plan.
A good many little variations were made,—such as a door here and a closet there. Mrs. Van Horn thought the parlour should have a cornice; and Agnes, of course, agreed with her. Then Joe came to the conclusion that windows down to the floor were absolutely necessary. John took the liberty of reminding him that every one of these additions to the original plan was an added expense; but Joe did not take the hint in very good part. He drew himself up, thanked Mr. Caswell for his advice, but believed he knew what he was about.
Meantime, John had paid up his mortgage. It was a happy day when he brought home his papers and announced to Letty that the house was all her own. Letty made a little feast on the occasion, and invited Mr. and Mrs. De Witt, Agnes and Joseph to tea.
Joe, who had quite overcome his fit of ill humour, made himself very agreeable, discussed flowers with Mrs. De Witt, and chemistry with her husband, and praised Letty's biscuits and cakes, till she, laughingly, told him he would incite her to set up a bakery. Joe said that a school for instruction in the art would be more to the purpose, and declared he would endow a professorship for her when his ship came home.
Agnes, who chose to take all this as an imputation on herself, sighed, and took occasion to remark that, if girls only knew half of what was before them, they would never be married. She appealed to Mrs. De Witt for confirmation.