The girl was glowing in the terms she used.
"And the two girls—what were their names, Helen, Elizabeth?—did you find them really congenial?"
Nancy was even more positive.
"You might not like them so well if you saw more of them," argued her father. "Suppose you were asked to live with them for a month, would you enjoy that?"
The proposal was too momentous to be answered offhand.
"Would Edward go too?" asked the girl.
"Oh, don't put too much weight on my words. I am only stating an imaginary case."
"I should be lonely without Edward."
"Pooh, you wouldn't miss Edward; you would have lots of companionship. There are the two men, Mr. Beresford and Mr. Nasmith, they would be like older brothers to you."
"How could I have anything to do with them?" said Nancy, surprised by the seeming indelicacy of her father's statement.