"Ha, ha, ha! Very good. Mrs. Bunker, you are really the liveliest woman I have ever met."
"Well, I'm not going to waste my day here," said Mrs. Bunker, decidedly. "I want to see the shops and take Indiana along. Thurston," advancing into the room, "I'm dying to see Indiana."
Thurston looked at her gravely.
"My dear Mrs. Bunker, I have plans for the future, which it is best you should know before you see Indiana."
Mr. and Mrs. Stillwater looked anxious, but Mrs. Bunker took his words lightly.
"Don't make any plans, Thurston. And don't look so serious. You've made up your mind to something—I can see that—but she'll upset it all in a jiffy. You don't know Indiana."
"No," answered Thurston, without relaxing his gravity of expression, "and I never shall. Mr. Stillwater, your daughter is very anxious to go with you to Paris—and I have consented."
"Thurston, how good of you to let her!" cried Mrs. Stillwater, innocently. "It is the only thing to complete my happiness."
"I don't approve of it," said Mrs. Bunker.
"I am about making arrangements for a long trip—for scientific purposes," continued Thurston, in a slow, mechanical voice. "I will be away from England for some time, and I think it advisable your daughter should go home with you—until my mission is over."