Popham Villa¹ was the name of the house at Fulham,—as was to be seen by all men passing by, for it was painted up conspicuously² on the pillars through which the gate led into the garden. Mr. Underwood, when he had first taken the place, had wished to expunge³ the name, feeling it to be cockneyfied, pretentious⁴, and unalluring. But Mrs. Underwood had rather liked it, and it remained. It was a subject of ridicule⁵ with the two girls; but they had never ventured to urge its withdrawal⁶, and after his wife's death Sir Thomas never alluded⁸ to the subject. Popham Villa it was, therefore, and there the words remained. The house was unpretentious, containing only two sitting-rooms besides a small side closet,—for it could hardly be called more,—which the girls even in their mother's lifetime had claimed as their own. But the drawing-room was as pretty as room could be, opening on to the lawn with folding windows, and giving a near view of the bright river as it flowed by, with just a glimpse of the bridge. That and the dining-room and the little closet were all on the ground floor, and above were at any rate as many chambers⁹ as the family required. The girls desired no better house,—if only their father could be with them. But he would urge that his books were all in London; and that, even were he willing to move them, there was no room for them in Popham Villa.

It was sad enough for the two girls,—this kind of life. The worst of it, perhaps, was this; that they never knew when to expect him. A word had been said once as to the impracticability of having dinner ready for a gentleman, when the gentleman would never say whether he would want a dinner. It had been an unfortunate remark, for Sir Thomas had taken advantage of it by saying that when he came he would come after dinner, unless he had

分享到：