Time and absence and Anna Ruthven had obliterated all such thoughts
till now, when Lucy herself had brought them back again with her
winsome ways, and her evident intention to begin just where they had
left off.
"Let Anna tell me yes, and I will at once proclaim our engagement,
which will relieve me from all embarrassments in that quarter," the
clergyman was thinking, just as his housekeeper came up, bringing him
two notes--one in a strange handwriting, and the other in the
graceful, running hand which he recognized as Lucy Harcourt's.
This he opened first, reading as follows:
Prospect Hill, June--.
"MR. LEIGHTON: Dear Sir--Cousin Fanny is to have a picnic down
in the west woods to-morrow afternoon, and she requests the
pleasure of your presence. Mrs. Meredith and Miss Ruthven are to
be invited. Do come.
"Yours truly,
"LUCY."
Yes, he would go, and if Anna's answer had not come before, he would
ask her for it. There would be plenty of opportunities down in those
deep woods. On the whole, it would be pleasanter to hear the answer
from her own lips, and see the blushes on her cheeks when he tried to
look into her eyes.
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