(If they had done so, I should not be telling this story.

You don't catch me writing books about people who quarrel.) They adored their mother.
The name of the Avories' house was "The Gables," which was a better name than many houses have, because there actually were gables in its roof.

Hester, who had funny ideas, wanted to see all the people who lived in all the houses that are called "The Gables" everywhere drawn up in a row so that she might examine them.

She used to lie awake at night and wonder how many there would be.

"I'm sure mother would be the most beautiful, anyway," she used to say.
History was Hester's passion.