It was good news; at the same time it was a shock. I was glad. I was
stunned. I jumped out of bed, and set about my toilet with an energy quite
new to me. Good Mary Quince was busily packing my boxes, and consulting as
to what I should take with me, and what not.
Was Mary Quince to accompany me? He had not said a word on that point; and
I feared from his silence she was to remain. There was comfort, however, in
this--that the separation would not be for long; I felt confident of that;
and I was about to join Milly, whom I loved better than I could have
believed before our separation; but whatsoever the conditions might be,
it was an indescribable relief to have done with Bartram-Haugh, and leave
behind me its sinister lines of circumvallation, its haunted recesses, and
the awful spectres that had lately appeared within its walls.
I stood too much in awe of my uncle to fail in presenting myself punctually
at the close of the half-hour. I entered his sitting-room under the shadow
of sour old Wyat's high-cauled cap; she closed the door behind me, and the
conference commenced.
Madame de la Rougierre sat there, dressed and draped for a journey, and
with a thick black lace veil on.
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