from the door to the dining room.

“Mama let us eat with her today,” she announced as she came and took her father’s hand. “Where have you been, Papa?”

“I have some news, my little Cat,” he replied quietly as he shrugged out of his coat and allowed the footman to take it.

“Papa has news,” Catherine announced as she guided him in.

Major Tenterchilt looked at the scene before him and smiled broadly. Mrs. Tenterchilt sat at the table and she shared it with four children, five when Catherine took her place beside her mother. His smile slipped a little as Gulliver leapt up onto his chair at the head of the table and began eating from the plate before him. Roger and Rose both stood at his arrival, but none of his daughters rose.

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