If only he has had the sense to stay
away!
And she had done it all without a maid, with no one
cleverer than Susan to help her!
And Sillerton Jackson, who was there, drove me
home.
They frightened Lizzie now as she looked
back.
With that cough, you wont go to sleep till
late.
It was the deuce, the back way being
barred.
I see no one here to say them but Miss Winter,
Charles had laughed, taking the girls icy hand. She shook with horror as much as
with indignation, and her Stop! Suddenly her smile deepened; she was evidently
greeting an old friend.
She remembered now, as if it had happened
yesterday, the abyss suddenly opening at her feet.
In the breaking-up of groups she caught a glimpse
of Sillerton Jacksons silvery crown. But half-way she stopped and thought: Suppose
the Parretts and Wessons DID see me? No, it IS jollier with just you and me, isnt
it? She listened, approved, suggested; but her glance never left the advancing
figure of the tall man. Mant would trust them to no one but herself, these occasions
were frequent. Youre coughing more than you did yesterday, she accused him. She was
not likely to be as inscrutable as old Sillerton. As Lizzie Hazeldean reached the
door a curious change came over her. And he might have held back, benumbed, aghast,
not believing his own eyes. But I suppose you were at the fire yourself, werent
you?
They frightened Lizzie now as she looked
back.
But a second later she spoke in a tone of natural
and good-humoured impatience. His long thin face lit up with a deprecating smile.
Mant; and in a moment the floodgates were opened.
And she was sure now that it was the right, the
natural thing to do.