Rusk in a sort of panic in the dark
alone, to find her way to her room the best way she could.
Early in the morning Mrs. Rusk came to my room to tell me that Doctor
Bryerly was in the parlour, and begged to know whether I had not a message
for him. I was already dressed, so, though it was dreadful seeing a
stranger in my then mood, taking the key of the cabinet in my hand, I
followed Mrs. Rusk downstairs.
Opening the parlour door, she stepped in, and with a little courtesy
said,--
'Please, sir, the young mistress--Miss Ruthyn.'
Draped in black and very pale, tall and slight, 'the young mistress'
was; and as I entered I heard a newspaper rustle, and the sound of steps
approaching to meet me.
Face to face we met, near the door; and, without speaking, I made him a
deep courtesy.
He took my hand, without the least indication on my part, in his hard lean
grasp, and shook it kindly, but familiarly, peering with a stern sort of
curiosity into my face as he continued to hold it. His ill-fitting, glossy
black cloth, ungainly presence, and sharp, dark, vulpine features had in
them, as I said before, the vulgarity of a Glasgow artisan in his Sabbath
suit.
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