"If you please, mother," said Marion. She was feeling every minute more strange, and, as Aunt Baby would have said, "like a cat in a strange garret." Everything was so utterly different from what she had expected.
"I dare say you will like to see the house," continued her mother; "it is a large one, but with our great family we live all over it. Here is another parlour, you see, but we use it more in winter than summer; and here is my room, which was built for a parlour too, but we do not need it, and I find it very convenient to have a bedroom down-stairs; and this is Aunt Eugenia's room; you must come in and be introduced to Aunt Eugenia; she is Mr. Van Alstine's aunt, and has always lived with him."
Mrs. Van Alstine opened a door, and introduced Marion into a pretty room, where sat an old lady dressed with exquisite neatness, and busily engaged in knitting. She turned her head as they entered, but did not move.
"Is that you, Eiley?" she asked, and then Marion saw that she was blind.
"Yes, aunty, and I have brought my daughter to see you. Go close to her, my dear. She will want to feel your face."
"Yes, my eyes are in the ends of my fingers," said the old lady pleasantly. Then after passing her hands over Marion's face, "She is like you in face; I hope she may be so in other ways. What has become of Hector and Rob?"
"They have gone over to the village for your snuff, aunty."
"They should not have done that," said Aunt Eugenia, though she was evidently much pleased.
"Oh, they had other errands enough; this is Saturday, you know. They will be home by dinner time. Poor old lady! She is lost without her snuff-box," said Mrs. Van Alstine as she closed the door.
"I should think you would try to break her of taking snuff," said Marion; "it is such a disagreeable bad habit."