Drawing-rooms
in Elgin had their prescribed uses--to receive in, to
practise in, and for the last sad entertainment of the
dead, when the furniture was disarranged to accommodate
the trestles; but the common business of life went on
outside them, even among prosperous people, the survival,
perhaps, of a habit based upon thrift. The shutters were
opened when Lorne entered, to let in the spring twilight,
and the servant pulled a chair into its proper relation
with the room as she went out.
Mrs Milburn and Miss Filkin both came in before Dora did.
Lorne found their conversation enchanting, though it was
mostly about the difficulty of keeping the lawn tidy;
they had had so much rain. Mrs Milburn assured him kindly
that there was not such another lawn as his father's in
Elgin. How Mr Murchison managed to have it looking so
nice always she could not think. Only yesterday she and
Mr Milburn had stopped to admire it as they passed.
"Spring is always a beautiful time in Elgin," she remarked.
"There are so many pretty houses here, each standing in
its own grounds. Nothing very grand, as I tell my friend,
Miss Cham, from Buffalo where the residences are, of
course, on quite a different scale; but grandeur isn't
everything, is it?"
"No, indeed," said Lorne.
"But you will be leaving for Great Britain very soon now,
Mr Murchison," said Miss Filkin.
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