Indeed one man was overheard to say to his ostler (taking it for granted that the Mr. Talboys were deaf as well as old) that he "should think the old gents had better get one made to order!" which caused Mr. Ned to wish him "good-morning."
At length, however, a desirable pony was found, and having been presented to Daisy in due form, was installed in the comfortable stable at the Rosery.
There being no one at home who could take out Daisy for her airings on Puck--for the doctor said _walking_ would be of no use; she must have a good canter every day--the young man begged that he might be allowed to take her under his charge. He could give her a good run, he said, every day, when going his distant rounds on Jack, and the Rosery lying between his own house and the Rookery, he could always call for Puck on his way for Daisy.
This arrangement met with the little girl's entire approval, in fact she very soon confided to her dear Doctor John that there was _no one_ else she would have trusted herself to in her first attempts at riding.
Ere long, however, the young doctor had made a very fair little horsewoman of Daisy, and the pair were constantly to be seen cantering over the country together, with Rufus, the doctor's red setter, and Vic (who condescended to be friendly under the circumstances) at their heels.
The letters mentioned at the beginning of this chapter are, besides the one from Doris, from Lady Woodhouse and Mr. Lancelot Ferrars, the latter containing a formal proposal of marriage for Doris.
The two have been thrown together a great deal abroad, and Lady Woodhouse has smiled with grim approval whenever the young fellow has appeared, quite by accident as it were, at the same place in which they are staying.
"Your uncle and Mr. Ferrars seem to have taken quite a fancy to each other lately," judicially remarked Aunt Sophia, with a little, almost imperceptible sniff, which always accompanied any attempt at acting on her part.
"You see, Doris, it must be lonely work for a man to be travelling by himself; though, of course, Mr. Ferrars has his profession as an artist to attend to. But your uncle has only you and me to talk to, so I am very glad Mr. Ferrars seeks his society for that reason; for people may say what they like, child, but men do like talking to each other when they get the chance better than to us women. I suppose they think they have more brains than we," with a slight toss of her head, "though all I can say is that if they have, they don't always know how to use them."