His hand was going out to
hers as he said good night.
But the head of the department was called away to the telephone, and in
her mind the splendid promise of the carpets and the irk of the pocket-book were thrust aside by a greater doubt and anxiety.
The little princess lay supported by pillows, with a white cap on
her head (the pains had just left
her).
Once I ventured gently to chaff
her about this religiosity of
hers.
But I was the architect of
her fortunes -- the publisher, so to speak, of
her book -- and, if anything, I am underpaid.
On the contrary, when he saw more of Captain Wentworth, saw him repeatedly by daylight, and eyed him well, he was very much struck by his personal claims, and felt that his superiority of appearance might be not unfairly balanced against
her superiority of rank; and all this, assisted by his well-sounding name, enabled Sir Walter at last to prepare his pen, with a very good grace, for the insertion of the marriage in the volume of honour.
Again he struggled for the all-expressive word, and again, his arm in
hers, found only a deep "Come along.
She looked up into his face to see smiling lips above
hers and brave eyes, untouched by terror, drinking deeply of
her own.
Mary put
her hand over his mouth and began to chide him for his awfulness, whereupon he kissed the palm of
her hand and put his head closer to
hers.
I remember stopping to kick the breath out of him, and then hurrying up-stairs, to my room and
hers.
Lastly, she pictured to herself how this same little sister of
hers would, in the after-time, be herself a grown woman; and how she would keep, through all
her riper years, the simple and loving heart of
her childhood: and how she would gather about
her other little children, and make THEIR eyes bright and eager with many a strange tale, perhaps even with the dream of Wonderland of long ago: and how she would feel with all their simple sorrows, and find a pleasure in all their simple joys, remembering
her own child-life, and the happy summer days.
Farebrother in the morning, she had promised to go and dine at the parsonage on
her return from Freshitt.
I have heard no such laugh as
hers save from merry children; the laughter of most of us ages, and wears out with the body, but
hers remained gleeful to the last, as if it were born afresh every morning.
At last he halted in front of the young woman, bringing his face down close to
hers.
He had a jaded anxious look upon him, and his hand, usually steady, trembled in
hers.
