Had Betty been at home that business would almost certainly
have been checked in the bud. As for Dolly, she was worse than no good in
the home. But--a certain secret hope was cherished both by Janet and by
Betty concerning Dolly. The bachelor vicar of the next parish seemed to
find a strange pleasure in her society. He was away now in Switzerland
and he had written to Dolly a minute account of his long, tiresome
journey.
She wondered, with a feeling of pain at her heart, what Godfrey would
think of them all. There had been such an air of charm and gaiety about
the place nine years ago. Now, beautiful in a sense as was the stately
Georgian house, lovely as was the garden, thanks to Janet's cleverness
and hard work, there was an air of shabbiness over everything though
Betty only fully realised it on the very rare occasions when she got away
for a few days for a change and rest with old friends.
This summer her brother Jack had said a word to her, not exactly
complainingly, but with a sort of regret. "Don't you think we could
afford new furniture covers for the drawing-room?" and Betty had shaken
her head. They could afford _nothing_ for the house--she alone knew how
very difficult it was to keep up Jack's own modest allowance.
Pages:
66
67
68
69
70
71
72
73
74
75
76
77
78
79
80
81
82
83
84
85
86
87
88
89
90