"
"Then you do not mean to go?" said Mrs. Vavasour.
"I have not said so," he answered--"I shall put the matter
calmly before Maria; tell her what I think are the reasons for
and against, and leave her to decide. I suppose she cannot
complain of that."
"I do not imagine for a moment she will complain," replied
Mrs. Vavasour; "but I think she will want your judgment to
help her."
He only muttered something in answer to this; and Madelon
asked in a low voice, "Is it about going abroad that Monsieur
Horace is doubting?"
"Yes, he told you about it, did he not?" said Mrs. Vavasour.
"I hope he may decide to go--it would be the very thing for
him."
"Do you think so?" said Graham, who had overheard this last
remark; and turning to Madelon with rather a melancholy smile,
"Listen to the description, Madelon, and tell me what you
think of it--a little town on the shores of the Mediterranean,
sheltered on every side by hills, so that all the winter is
spring, and flowers bloom all the year round. The gardens are
full of pomegranate and orange trees, and the hills are
terraced with vineyards, and covered with olives and chestnuts
everywhere else.
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