CHAPTER XXXIV 491 disposed for full holiday ."
He looked grave . " What now ? What sudden eagerness is this you evince ? What are you going to do ?"
" To be active : as active as I can . And first I must beg you to set Hannah at liberty , and get somebody else to wait on you ."
" Do you want her ?"
" Yes , to go with me to Moor House . Diana and Mary will be at home in a week , and I want to have everything in order against their arrival ."
" I understand . I thought you were for flying off on some excursion . It is better so : Hannah shall go with you ."
" Tell her to be ready by to-morrow then ; and here is the schoolroom key : I will give you the key of my cottage in the morning ."
He took it . " You give it up very gleefully ," said he ; " I don ' t quite understand your light-heartedness , because I cannot tell what employment you propose to yourself as a substitute for the one you are relinquishing . What aim , what purpose , what ambition in life have you now ?"
" My first aim will be to CLEAN DOWN ( do you comprehend the full force of the expression ?) -- to CLEAN DOWN Moor House from chamber to cellar ; my next to rub it up with bees-wax , oil , and an indefinite number of cloths , till it glitters again ; my third , to arrange every chair , table , bed , carpet , with mathematical precision ; afterwards I shall go near to ruin you in coals and peat to keep up good fires in every room ; and lastly , the two days preceding that on which your sisters are expected will be devoted by Hannah and me to such a beating of eggs , sorting of currants , grating of spices , compounding of Christmas cakes , chopping up of materials for mince-pies , and solemnising of other culinary rites , as words can convey but an inadequate notion of to the uninitiated like you . My purpose , in short , is to have all things in an absolutely perfect state of readiness for