“Ah, here we are!” the captain exclaimed presently as the carriage turned into the driveway.
“And everything is looking oh, so lovely!” cried Lulu, clapping her hands with delight. “And there is Marian on the veranda, waiting for us.”
The other two carriages were not far behind. It had been arranged that all should dine together at Woodburn; so they also turned in at the gates, and presently all had alighted and were one after the other warmly greeting Marian. She was glad to learn that Mr. Lilburn had been invited to make Woodburn his home for some weeks and had accepted the invitation, so that she would see much of him for a time at least and become better acquainted. He had been so kind to her that she felt already a warm affection for him as a near and dear relative.
CHAPTER VII.
Mr. and Mrs. Dinsmore and Mrs. Travilla reached Philadelphia safely, without accident or detention, spent a few days with their relatives there, then, being urgently invited to pay a visit to the family of their cousin Donald Keith—the brother of our old friend Mildred, wife of Dr. Landreth, of Pleasant Plains, and father of Mary Keith, with whom Edward and Violet spent some time in a cottage at Ocean Beach in the summer after the death of their father—they did so.
About six years had passed since then. Some of Mary’s younger brothers and sisters had grown up and married, so that her burdens were much lightened, but she herself was still single and at home in her father’s house.
Time seemed to have stood still with her. They found her the same bright, cheery girl, looking scarcely older than she had looked six years ago.
She was delighted to see again these relatives whom she had met and learned to love during that ever-to-be-remembered summer in the cottage by the sea, and very glad to hear all they had to tell of the cousins who had helped to make enjoyable her effort at housekeeping then and there. She had many questions to ask about them and the little ones, and expressed an ardent desire to see them all again, to which her cousin Elsie replied: “We are expecting to return home in a fortnight, or a little sooner, and will be glad to take you with us if you will go, Mary; will you not, dear girl?”