She speaks good English,
and sensible, too, in a peculiarly pleasing voice, and has the most
finished manners, to my notion; for she goes quietly about her affairs
without fuss or remark, and says what there is to say in brief, clean
words. No, she is anything but _outre_."
"Really, my dear, I never heard you praise a woman so highly before."
He smiled quietly.
"I neither praise nor dispraise, Marian; they are, with one notable
exception simply out of my ken, ordinarily; but I like this little girl,
where she is, unusually well."
"Be sure, then, I shall watch for her with all my eyes! Don't forget
your papers, dear; oh, and turn your pockets inside out at once, please,
till I see if you have any of my letters yet undelivered!"
He obeyed with a matter-of-course air, which showed this to be a common
occurrence with the absent-minded scientist, and having yielded up two
dainty, square missives, which he had not carried more than two days,
took his departure.
An hour later Sara turned in at the designated carriage-drive, and
followed its windings up near the house, then off towards the dividing
hedge, never seeing two bright, interested eyes which were peering
through the filmy lace curtains, and taking pleased note of her trim,
erect figure in its black dress, and lovely, thoughtful face, below its
plain straw hat; then passed through the hedge, and, with all the
delight of a child exploring some bit of woodland, followed the well-
worn little path, which crossed a corner of the next yard, then skirted
a tennis-court, wound by a rather suspicious-looking dog-kennel, then
led into an unused grassy lane, reminding her so gently of home that she
longed to linger; but, pressing on in her narrow way, she finally
brought up before a gray stone pile, in which was a small door, and,
opening it with some caution, found herself in the tiny square entry
just back of the familiar cloak-room.
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