"
"How many shall you invite?" said Uncle Charlie. "I'll engage stages to
take us all over."
"I want to go," said Edith. "Mayn't I, mamma?"
"Of course you may," said Mrs. Elliott; "we'll take the whole family, from
grandma down to little Gilbert."
"Oh, I can't go," said grandma; "I'm too old for picnics."
"Not a bit," said her son; "if you don't care for staging, I'll send you
and Alice and the baby over in the carriage."
And then they all fell to planning the details of the picnic, and Patty
secretly contrasted the occasion with similar ones at her other aunts'.
There was no quarreling about arrangements as at Villa Rosa; each deferred
politely to the others' opinions, and yet each frankly expressed his or her
mind on any subject.
And there was no inattention or forgetfulness as at the Hurly-Burly. Each
was appointed to attend to several different things, and Patty felt sure
that their promises would all be fulfilled.
"Let's have lots of sandwiches," said Frank; "the last picnic I went to, I
didn't have half enough.
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