Dr. Conly had joined them as they sat down, and presently he addressed the captain:--
"I hear, Raymond, that you would like to buy in this neighborhood."
"Yes, if I can find a suitable place,--one that will satisfy my wife as well as myself," the captain answered with a smiling glance at Violet.
"Well, Vi, how would Woodburn answer, so far as you are concerned?"
queried Arthur.
"Woodburn! is it for sale?" she cried delightedly. "O Levis!" turning to her husband, "it is a lovely old place! A visit there was always a great treat to me as a child."
"And it is really for sale?" exclaimed several voices in chorus, all eyes turning inquiringly upon Dr. Conly.
"Yes, so Miss Elliott told me yesterday," replied Arthur. "She was slightly indisposed, and sent for me, and, while telling of her ailments, remarked that she was very lonely since her sister Margaret had married and gone, leaving her sole occupant--not taking servants into account--of that large house, with its extensive grounds. So she had at last decided, she said, to comply with her sister"s urgent request to sell the place, and take up her abode with them.
"She had thought of advertising, and asked my advice about it. Of course, I thought at once of you and Vi, captain, told her I knew of a gentleman who might like to become a purchaser, and that I would promise her a call from him to-day to look at the place. Will you redeem my promise?"
"Gladly," responded the captain, "especially as Vi expresses so strong a liking for the place. Will you go with me, my dear?"
"I hardly like to leave my baby yet," she answered dubiously. "But if you should feel entirely satisfied with the house, the grounds, and the price asked for them, you could not please me better than by making the purchase."
"There! if Miss Elliott only knew it, she might consider the estate as good as sold," remarked Zoe.
"If she is willing to take a reasonable price, I presume she might,"
said Arthur. "Captain, I will go there directly from here: will you drive over with me, and take a look at the place?"
"Yes, thank you; and have a talk with the lady, if you will give me an introduction."
Max and Lulu, sitting side by side at the table, exchanged glances,--Lulu"s full of delight, Max"s only interested. He shook his head in response to her"s.
"What do you mean? wouldn"t you like it?" she asked in an undertone.
"Yes, indeed! but I"m pretty sure papa couldn"t afford such a place as that: it must be worth a good many thousands."
Lulu"s look lost much of its brightness; still, she did not quite give up hope, as the conversation went on among their elders, Woodburn and the Elliotts continuing to be the theme.
"Will it be near enough to Ion?" Capt. Raymond asked, addressing Violet more particularly. "What is the distance?"
"Something over a mile, they call it," said Mr. Dinsmore.
"That is as near as we can expect to be, I suppose," said Violet.
"And with carriages and horses, bicycles, tricycles, and telephones, we may feel ourselves very near neighbors indeed," remarked Edward. "When the weather is too inclement for mamma or Vi to venture out, they can talk together by the hour through the telephone, if they wish."
"And it won"t often be too inclement to go back and forth," said Zoe; "almost always good enough for a close carriage, if for nothing else."
"We are talking as if the place were already secured," remarked Violet, with a smiling glance at her husband.
"I think you may feel pretty sure of it if you want it, love; unless Miss Elliott should change her mind about selling," he responded, in a tone too low to reach any ear but hers.
She gave him a bright, glad look, that quite settled the matter so far as he was concerned; he would, if necessary, give even an exorbitant price for the place, to please her.
"Have you never seen Woodburn, captain?" asked Mrs. Dinsmore.
"I have some recollection of driving past it," he replied meditatively; "but--is not the house nearly concealed from view from the road, by a thick growth of trees and shrubbery?"
"Yes: you will thin them out a little, I hope, for the mansion is well worth looking at; it is a very aristocratic-looking dwelling,--large, substantial, and handsome architecturally."
"Papa, are you going to buy it?" asked Grace.
"It is too soon to answer that question, daughter," he said pleasantly; and Max and Lulu again exchanged glances, which said this time, "Maybe he will, after all."
Both ardently wished their father would propose taking them along; he did not: but when Dr. Conly said, with a kindly glance at Grace, "There will be room in my carriage for a little friend of mine, if papa is willing to let her go with us," he at once said,--
"Certainly, Gracie may go, if she will be ready in season, and not keep the doctor waiting."
"Indeed I will, papa," she cried delightedly, and ran away to don hat and coat; for the meal was concluded, and everybody leaving the table.
Lulu followed her father, till, in the hall, she found an opportunity to speak to him without being overheard.
"Papa," she asked, "what am I to do with myself to-day?"
"Stay in your room, and learn your lessons, beginning just where you left off the other day. You will recite to me after I come back; then we will consider what you shall do for the rest of the day."
"Yes, sir: may I see Evelyn when she comes?"
"If she chooses to go to you in your room."
"Must I stay in my room all the time?" she asked dejectedly.
"While I am away. I will take you out after I return." Then, noticing her downcast look, "You shall have more liberty when we get into our own home," he said kindly.
At that she looked up with a bright, glad smile. "Papa, it will be _so nice_!"
Max had drawn near.
"Papa," he said, "won"t you let Lu take a walk with me? Mayn"t we run over to Fairview, and bring Evelyn back with us? I know she"d be glad to have company coming over to school."
"Yes, you may go, both of you, if you like. But, Lulu, when you get home, go at once to your room: don"t stop in the grounds or on the veranda."
"I won"t, papa," she said: "I"ll go straight to my room, and, oh, thank you for letting me go!"
CHAPTER XVII.
"Home, sweet home!"