Lavender and Old Lace

MP3 Audio CD. Lavender and Old Lace

I.

The Light in the Window A rickety carriage was slowly ascending the hill, and from the place of honour on the back seat, the single passenger surveyed the country with interest and admiration. The driver of that ancient chariot was an awkward young fellow, possibly twenty-five years of age, with sharp knees, large, red hands, high cheek-bones, and abundant hair of a shade verging upon orange. He was not unpleasant to look upon, however, for he had a certain evident honesty, and he was disposed to be friendly to every one. “Be you comfortable, Miss?” he asked, with apparent solicitude. “Very comfortable, thank you,” was the quiet response. He urged his venerable steeds to a gait of about two miles an hour, then turned sideways. “Be you goin' to stay long, Miss?” “All Summer, I think.” “Do tell!” The young woman smiled in listless amusement, but Joe took it for conversational encouragement. “City folks is dretful bashful when they's away from home,” he said to himself. He clucked again to his unheeding horses, shifted his quid, and was casting about for a new topic when a light broke in upon him. “I guess, now, that you're Miss Hathaway's niece, what's come to stay in her house while she goes gallivantin' and travellin' in furrin parts, be n't you?” “I am Miss Hathaway's niece, and I have never been here before. Where does she live?”