He had not proposed when Mr. Hare wrote for his daughter, and Kitty
returned to Henfield. John at first thought that this absence was the
solution of his difficulty; but he could not forget her, and it became
one of his pleasures to start early in the morning, and having spent a
long day with her, to return home across the downs.
'What a beautiful walk you will have, Mr. Norton! But are you not
tired? Seven miles in the morning and seven in the evening!'
'But I have had the whole day to rest in.'
'What a lovely evening! Let's all walk a little way with him,' said
Kitty.
'I should like to,' said the elder Miss Austin, 'but we promised
father to be home for dinner. The one sure way of getting into his
black books is to keep his dinner waiting, and he wouldn't dine
without us.'
'Well, good-bye, dear,' said Kitty, 'I shall walk as far as the
burgh.'
The Miss Austins turned into the trees that encircled Leywood, Kitty
and John faced the hill, and ascending, they soon stood, tiny specks
upon the evening hours.