But of course it was
impossible. "Won't you introduce yourselves, please?"
Felicity shouted our names and Great-aunt Eliza shook hands all
round. She performed the duty grimly and I concluded I must have
been mistaken about the twinkle. She was certainly very tall and
dignified and imposing--altogether a great-aunt to be respected.
Felicity and Cecily took her to the spare room and then left her
in the sitting-room while they returned to the kitchen, to discuss
the matter in family conclave.
"Well, and what do you think of dear Aunt Eliza?" asked Dan.
"S-s-s-sh," warned Cecily, with a glance at the half-open hall door.
"Pshaw," scoffed Dan, "she can't hear us. There ought to be a law
against anyone being as deaf as that."
"She's not so old-looking as I expected," said Felix. "If her
hair wasn't so white she wouldn't look much older than your mother."
"You don't have to be very old to be a great-aunt," said Cecily.
"Kitty Marr has a great-aunt who is just the same age as her
mother. I expect it was burying so many husbands turned her hair
white. But Aunt Eliza doesn't look just as I expected she would
either."
"She's dressed more stylishly than I expected," said Felicity. "I
thought she'd be real old-fashioned, but her clothes aren't too
bad at all.
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