She
remembered that there were no flowers in the house and gathered a
great handful at last of one sort and another to carry in.
The dining-room was very dark, and Nan wished at first to throw open
the blinds which had been carefully closed. It seemed too early in the
summer to shut out the sunshine, but it seemed also a little too soon
to interfere with the housekeeping, and so she brought two or three
tall champagne glasses from a high shelf of the closet and filled them
with her posies, and after putting them in their places, went back to
the garden. There was a perfect silence in the house, except for the
sound of the tall clock in the dining-room, and it seemed very lonely.
She had taken another long look at her father's portrait, but as she
shut the rusty-hinged garden gate after her, she smiled at the thought
of her unusual idleness, and wondered if it need last until Tuesday,
which was the day she had fixed upon for her departure. Nan wished
that she dared to go away for a long walk; it was a pity she had not
told her aunt of a wish to see something of the town and of the
harbor-side that afternoon, but it would certainly be a little strange
if she were to disappear, and very likely the long nap would soon come
to an end. Being well taught in the details of gardening, she took a
knife from her pocket and pruned and trained the shrubs and vines, and
sang softly to herself as she thought about her next winter's study
and her plans for the rest of the summer, and also decided that she
would insist upon the doctor's going away with her for a journey when
she reached home again.
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