Ida looked up a little piteously.
"Oh, not go to London or abroad!" she said. "Can I not live here? If
you knew how I feel--how the sight of the place, the thought that I am
under the old roof again--"
She looked round the faded, stately room lovingly, wistfully, and Mr.
Wordley nodded sympathetically.
"Of course you can, my dear," he said. "But equally o' course, you will
now want to restore the old place. There is a great deal to be done,
and I thought that perhaps you would like to go away while the work was
being carried on."
Ida shook her head.
"No, I would like to stay, even if I have to live in the kitchen or one
of the garrets. It will be a delight to me to watch the men at work; I
should never grow tired of it."
"I quite understand, my dear," he said. "I honour you for that feeling.
Well, then, I shall engage an architect of repute, the first in his
profession"--he rubbed his hands with an air of enjoyment--"and he
shall restore the old place, with a respect and reverence. I think I
know the man to employ; and we will start at once, so that no time may
be lost, I want to see you settled in your proper position here. The
thought of it gives me a new lease of life! Of course, you will want a
proper establishment; more servants both in the house and out of it;
you will want carriages and horses; both the lodges must be rebuilt,
and the old avenue opened out and put in order. Heron Hall was one of
the finest places in the county and it shall be so again."
"And Jessie shall be the housekeeper and Jason the butler," said Ida,
with a laugh of almost child-like enjoyment. "Oh, it all seems like a
dream; and I feel that at any moment I may wake and find myself at
Laburnum Villa. And, oh, Mr. Wordley, I shall want some more money at
once. I want to send the Herons a present, a really nice present that
will help them, I hope, to forget the trouble I caused them. Poor
people! it was not their fault; they did not understand." Mr. Wordley
snorted.
"There is one topic of conversation, my dear Miss Ida, I shall be
compelled to bar," he said. "I never want to hear Mr. John Heron's name
again. As to sending them a present, you can, of course, send them
anything you like, to the half of your kingdom; though, if you ask me
whether they deserve it--"