But by this time Ella had the card between her fingers. Flinging down her sewing, she ran out to the lawn with a glowing face of welcome. Aaron's mouth fell. To him the end of the world seemed at hand.
"I am so glad you are come! I am so glad to see you!" cried Ella, with outstretched hands.
Mr. Denison drew the blushing girl toward him and kissed her tenderly.
"You don't know how pleased I am to see you again," he said. "What would I not give if I had a daughter like you!"
"How did you get here? Where did you come from?"
"I came down from London last night, my dear, and was driven to a country inn a mile or two away--I like your old-fashioned country inns, they are pretty sure to be comfortable--and I walked here this morning. I am good for a few miles' walk yet."
"You will come in," said Ella, as she linked her arm in his. "It is your own house now, you know."
"That is a fact with which I shall not be able to familiarise myself for some time to come," replied Mr. Denison. "I have not set foot inside Heron Dyke since I was a lad of nineteen. Dear! dear! what changes in the world, and in me too, since that time!"
They sat down in Ella's pleasant little room overlooking the flower-garden and the park.
"And is this strange news, that Charles Plackett has told me, really true?" asked Mr. Denison.