When the time came for me to speak she listened with great interest,
and sometimes at my words her eyes sparkled almost as much as they
did when she was speaking herself. She knew a great many things, and
I was pleased to find out that she was especially interested in the
good qualities of the people she knew. I never heard so many gracious
sentiments in so short a time.
Miss Willoughby's residence was but a short distance from the station
at Waterton; and as she thought it entirely unnecessary to take a cab,
I attended to her baggage, and offered to walk with her to her home
and carry her little bag. I was about to leave her at the door, but
this she positively forbade. I must step in for a minute or two to see
her mother and her aunt They had heard of me, and would never forgive
her if she let me go without their seeing me. As the door opened
immediately, we went in.
Miss Willoughby's mother and aunt were two most charming elderly
ladies, immaculately dainty in their dress, cordial of manner, bright
of eye, and diminutive of hand, producing the impression of gentle
goodness set off by soft white muslin, folded tenderly.
They had heard of me. In the few days in which I had been with the
Larramies, Miss Willoughby had written of me. They insisted that I
should stay to supper, for what good reason could there be for my
taking that meal at the hotel--not a very good one--when they would be
so glad to have me sup with them and talk about our mutual friends?
I had no reasonable objection to offer, and, returning to the station,
I took my baggage to the hotel, where I prepared to sup with the
Willoughby family.
They were now a little family of three, although there was a brother
who had started away the day before on a bicycling tour very like my
own, and they were both so delighted to have Amy visit the Larramies,
and they were both so delighted to have her come back.
The supper was a delicate one, suitable for canary birds, but at an
early stage of the meal a savory little sirloin steak was brought on
which had been cooked especially for me. Of course I could not be
expected to be satisfied with thin dainties, no matter how tasteful
they might be.
This house was the abode of intelligence, cultivated taste, and
opulence. It was probably the finest mansion of the town. In every
room there were things to see, and after supper we looked at them,
and, as I wandered from pictures to vases and carved ivory, the
remarks of the two elder ladies and Miss Willoughby seemed like a
harmonized chorus accompanying the rest of the performance. Each spoke
at the right time, each in her turn said the thing she ought to say.
It was a rare exhibition of hospitable enthusiasm, tempered by
sympathetic consideration for me and for each other.