"
CHAPTER XII
An emissary from Tottenham Court Road sped down to Polterham,
surveyed the vacant house, returned with professional computations.
Quarrier and Lilian abode at the old home until everything should be
ready for them, and Mrs. Liversedge represented her brother on the
spot--solving the doubts of workmen, hiring servants, making minor
purchases. She invited Denzil to bring his wife, and dwell for the
present under the Liversedge roof, but her brother preferred to
wait. "I don't like makeshifts; we must go straight into our own
house; the dignity of the Radical candidate requires it." So the
work glowed, and as little time as possible was spent over its
completion.
It was midway in January when the day and hour of arrival were at
last appointed. No one was to be in the house but the servants. At
four in the afternoon Mr. and Mrs. Quarrier would receive Mr. and
Mrs. Liversedge, and thus make formal declaration of their readiness
to welcome friends. Since her return to England, Lilian had seen no
one. She begged Denzil not to invite Glazzard to Clapham.
They reached Polterham at one o'clock, in the tumult of a snowstorm;
ten minutes more, and the whitened cab deposited them at their
doorway. Quarrier knew, of course, what the general appearance of
the interior would be, and he was well satisfied with the way in
which his directions had been carried out.
Pages:
128
129
130
131
132
133
134
135
136
137
138
139
140
141
142
143
144
145
146
147
148
149
150
151
152