“Do you mean Mrs. Norton’s sister?” asked Fern, with languid curiosity.
“Yes, Aunt Addie, as the children call her; she is staying at some private hotel, and she drove over to see them. I was so pleased to see her, for you know how kind she was to me at Hastings. I do believe that she has taken a decided fancy to me, and it does seem so strange.”
“It is not strange at all,” exclaimed Fern, rather roused by this; “many people take a fancy to you, Crystal. I did directly mother brought you in that evening.”
“Oh you,”—smoothing the fair hair caressingly—“you are a darling, and you love every one, but Miss Campion—well, she is quite different. One would never expect a clever woman of the world who has friends and acquaintances in all quarters of the globe to be guilty of this sort of sentimentality; but all the same,” with a little laugh, “she seemed to be delighted to see me, and of course the American scheme was revived.”
“Oh, Crystal,” with a very long face, “I thought you had given up that idea.”
“Not at all; but I wanted to hear more about it, and I could not quite make up my mind.”
“You talk as though you were thinking seriously of it. Mrs. Norton would never consent to part with you.”
“Mrs. Norton would do exactly what her sister wished her to do, my dear. Aunt Addie’s will rules Upton House. I begin to understand things better now. We used to wonder how Mrs. Norton could afford all those pretty gowns and bonnets, and why the curate’s wife was so much better dressed than the vicar’s wife, and how they could afford to go out of town and have all those nice things for the children, but of course it is all Aunt Addie’s doing.”
“Miss Campion is rich then.”
“Yes; Mrs. Norton told me all about it when we were in the gardens. She says some old uncle left her all his money. She does so much good with it; and she is especially kind to Mrs. Norton, who is her favorite sister. She has promised to send the boys to school when they are old enough, and she pays my salary, and, in fact, the whole household are much benefited by Aunt Addie. So Mrs. Norton told me rather sorrowfully that if I made up my mind to go to America with her sister they would not say a word to prevent it.”