It was a long, tiresome ride, for grandpa, from Honedale to Aikenside,
and as he was not in his wife's secret, he accepted thankfully the
doctor's offer to take Maddy there himself. With this arrangement
Maddy was well pleased, as it would thus afford her the opportunity
she had so much desired, of talking with the doctor about his bill,
and asking him to wait until she had earned enough to pay it.
To the aged couple, parting for the first time with their darling, the
day was very sad, but they would not intrude their grief upon the
young girl looking so eagerly forward to the new life opening before
her; only grandpa's voice faltered a little when, in the morning
prayer, he commended his child to God, asking that she might be kept
from temptation, and that the new sights and scenes to which she was
going might not beget in her a love of the world's vanities, or a
disgust for her old home; but that she might come back to it the same
loving, happy child as she was then, and never be ashamed of the
parents to whom she was so dear. There was an answering sob from the
chair where Maddy knelt, and after the devotions were ended she wound
her arm around her grandfather's neck, and parting his silvery locks,
said to him, earnestly; "Grandpa, do you think I could ever be ashamed of you and grandma?"
"I hope not, darling; it would break our hearts; but finery and things
is mighty apt to set folks up, and after you've walked a spell on them
velvet carpets, you'll no doubt think your feet make a big noise on
our bare kitchen floor."
"That may be, but I shan't be ashamed of you. No, not if I were Mrs.
Guy Remington herself." And Maddy emphasized her words with a kiss, as
she thought how nice it would be provided she were a widow, to be Mrs.
Guy Remington, and have her grandparents live at Aikenside with her.
"But, pshaw! I'll never be Mrs. anybody; and if I am, I'll have to
have a husband, which would be such a bother!" was her next mental
comment, as, leaving her grandfather, she went to help her grandmother
with the breakfast dishes, wondering when she would wipe those blue
cups again, and how she should probably feel when she did.
Quickly the morning passed, and just as the clock struck two the
doctor's buggy appeared over the hill. Up to this moment Maddy had
only been happy in anticipation; but when, with her shawl and bonnet
on, she stood waiting while the doctor fastened her little trunk, and
when she saw a tear on the wrinkled faces of both her grandparents,
her fortitude gave way; and 'mid a storm of sobs, she said her good-bys
and received her grandfather's blessing.