Page:An American Girl in India.djvu/140

 India has no use for frumpy old maids. My heart went out to that nephew. And yet supposing he proved a snob and let his aunts see what he felt. Supposing he hurt these dear old ladies by his rudeness and indifference; supposing they, who had come all this way, looking forward to seeing him, were destined to make the long journey home again, sad at heart and disillusioned. 'He doesn't know that we are coming,' said Martha, nodding at me with a mysterious, delighted smile. 'We thought we would give him a surprise,' chirped Jane.

'He has so often suggested our coming, but I don't think he ever really thought that we should come,' smiled Anne, troubled by no shadow of a doubt as to the welcome they would receive. Young men of India, however much you want to flatter your aged female relatives, don't ask them to come out and pay you a visit, or, improbable as it may seem, they may take you at your word. My sympathies now went quite over to that nephew in Mehernugger. Just imagine an unfortunate young man having three aunts sprung upon him suddenly like that in India. What on earth could he do with them?

'You see, he couldn't get the leave he expected this year,' Martha was saying. 'So, as he could not come to see us, we determined that we would come to see him,' added Jane. 'Only to think that it's five years he has been