Ask papa, Henry, won't you? Seriously,
Eleanor, has Frank considered how much better it would be to have him
in the country?'
'He has, Emily; he once wished much to leave him here.'
'I am sure grandpapa would like it,' said Emily. 'Do you observe,
Eleanor, how fond he is of baby, always calling him Harry too, as if
he liked the sound of the name?'
'It has all been talked over, Emily, and it cannot be.'
'With papa?' asked Emily in surprise.
'No, with Lily.'
'With Lily!' exclaimed Emily. 'Did not Aunt Lily wish to keep you,
Harry? I thought she was very fond of you.'
'You had better inquire no further,' said Eleanor, 'except of your
own conscience.'
'Did Lily think us unfit to take care of him?' asked Emily, in
surprise.
As she spoke Lily herself came in, the key of the storeroom in her
hand, and looks of consternation on her face. She came to announce a
terrible deficiency in the preserved quinces, which she herself had
carefully put aside on a shelf in the storeroom, and which Emily said
she had not touched in her absence.
'Let me see,' said Eleanor, rising, and setting off to the storeroom;
Emily and Lily followed, with a sad suspicion of the truth.
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