'
I heard nothing of this, which was conducted in close whispers; and Mary,
although she did not give Madame credit for caring whether I was frightened
or not, and suspected her motives in everything, acquiesced grudgingly,
fearing lest her alleged reason might possibly be the true one.
So Madame hovered about the door, uneasily; and of what went on elsewhere
during that period Lady Knollys afterwards gave me the following account:--
'We were very much disappointed; but of course I was glad to see Silas, and
your little hobgoblin butler led me upstairs to his room a different way, I
think, from that I came before; but I don't know the house of Bartram well
enough to speak positively. I only know that I was conducted quite across
his bedroom, which I had not seen on my former visit, and so into his
sitting-room, where I found him.
'He seemed very glad to see me, came forward smiling--I disliked his smile
always--with both hands out, and shook mine with more warmth than I ever
remembered in his greeting before, and said--
'"My dear, _dear_ Monica, how _very_ good of you--the very person I longed
to see! I have been miserably ill, the sad consequence of still more
miserable anxiety.
Pages:
662
663
664
665
666
667
668
669
670
671
672
673
674
675
676
677
678
679
680
681
682
683
684
685
686