I suspect, however,
that injured curiosity asserted itself, and that Mary hardly adhered to
this self-denying resolve.
But cheerful wintry suns and frosty skies, long nights, and brilliant
starlight, with good homely fires in our snuggery--gossipings, stories,
short readings now and then, and brisk walks through the always beautiful
scenery of Bartram-Haugh, and, above all, the unbroken tenor of our life,
which had fallen into a serene routine, foreign to the idea of danger
or misadventure, gradually quieted the qualms and misgivings which my
interview with Doctor Bryerly had so powerfully resuscitated.
My cousin Monica, to my inexpressible joy, had returned to her
country-house; and an active diplomacy, through the post-office, was
negotiating the re-opening of friendly relations between the courts of
Elverston and of Bartram.
At length, one fine day, Cousin Monica, smiling pleasantly, with her cloak
and bonnet on, and her colour fresh from the shrewd air of the Derbyshire
hills, stood suddenly before me in our sitting-room. Our meeting was that
of two school-companions long separated.
Pages:
408
409
410
411
412
413
414
415
416
417
418
419
420
421
422
423
424
425
426
427
428
429
430
431
432