“I should have told Charley, if he had come to me,” she resumed, as though it were an afterthought, “that Jenny and I find our teacher very able and very patient, and that she takes great pains with us. So much so, that we have said to her we hope in a very little while to be able to go on by ourselves. Charley knows about teachers, and I should also have told him, for his satisfaction, that ours comes from an institution where teachers are regularly brought up.”

“I should like to ask you,” said Bradley Headstone, grinding his words slowly out, as though they came from a rusty mill; “I should like to ask you, if I may without offence, whether you would have objected⁠—no; rather, I should like to say, if I may without offence, that I wish I had had the opportunity of coming here with your brother and devoting my poor abilities and experience to your service.”

“Thank you, Mr. Headstone.”