Uncle Jo's Old Coat
9781465678881
213 pages
Library of Alexandria
Overview
OH, Jo, such news! I don't know whether I'm pleased or not; but I do hope it will be for the best! And so saying, the speaker, Mrs. Dennis, laid down the letter she had been reading and glanced at her husband, with a smile upon her lips and tears in her eyes. It was half-past eight on a fine September morning, and the Dennis family—comprised of Dr. Dennis, his wife, and three children, Edwin and Claude, aged eleven and nine respectively, and Poppy, a bright little maiden of eight—were seated at the breakfast-table. Four pairs of eyes turned curiously upon Mrs. Dennis as she spoke, and her husband hastened to inquire: "What is it, my dear? What is it you hope will be for the best? That is a letter from your brother, is it not?" "Yes, in which he informs me that he is going to be married again; and he wants us to have Freddy to stay with us for a few months whilst he and his bride are away on their wedding trip. Here, Jo—" and as she spoke Mrs. Dennis handed the letter to her husband— "read what he says for yourself." The children, who had been listening with great interest, exchanged glances of mingled surprise and excitement. Freddy was their cousin, a boy of nine years old, the only child of their mother's brother, Mr. Frederick Collins, a landowner in Devonshire, who lived at a beautiful old home called Marldon Court. Mr. Collins had been left a widower when his little son had been only a few months old, consequently Freddy had never known a mother's love; but he had never been conscious of anything wanting in his life, for his father had made him his first care, and the servants at Marldon Court had always humoured his slightest whim. Mrs. Dennis had been in the habit of spending a week or so with her brother every spring, taking one of her children with her; this year it had been Edwin's turn, and he had, therefore, the most vivid recollections of his cousin, and was not altogether charmed at the prospect of having him as a visitor in the house.
