If, inadvertently, Ralph had proposed a consultation with Mrs.Bannister, there would have been a hubbub in the gig.
The doctor and his wife were both at home, and when the business of the Haverleys had been stated to them, Mrs.Tolbridge clapped her hands.
"Truly," she cried, "this is a piece of rare good fortune; we will lend them La Fleur.

Do you know, my dear girl," she said to Miriam, "that the doctor and I are going away?
He will attend a medical convention at Barport, and I will visit my mother, to whom he will come, later.

It will be a grand vacation for us, for we shall stay away from Thorbury for two weeks, and the only thing which has troubled us is to decide what we shall do with La Fleur while we are gone.

We want to shut up the house, and she does not want to go to her friends, and if she should do so, I am afraid we might lose her.

I am sure she would be delighted to come to you, especially as the Dranes are with you.