But it seems impossible
to rouse him to make an effort."
Sir James resumed his walk--only to come to another stop.
"Do you know--that he just now--sent a message by me to Miss Mallory?"
Lady Lucy started.
"Did he?" she said, faintly, her eyes on the blaze. He came up to her.
"_There_ is a woman who would never have deserted you!--or him!" he
said, in a burst of irrepressible feeling, which would out.
Lady Lucy's glance met his--silently, a little proudly. She said nothing
and presently he took his leave.
* * * * *
The day wore on. A misty sunshine enwrapped the beech woods. The great
trees stood marked here and there by the first fiery summons of the
frost. Their supreme moment was approaching which would strike them,
head to foot, into gold and amber, in a purple air. Lady Lucy took her
drive among them as a duty, but between her and the enchanted woodland
there was a gulf fixed.
She paid a visit to Oliver, trembling, as she always did, lest some
obscure catastrophe, of which she was ever vaguely in dread, should have
developed. But she found him in a rather easier phase, with Lankester,
who had just returned from town, reading aloud to him.
Pages:
675
676
677
678
679
680
681
682
683
684
685
686
687
688
689
690
691
692
693
694
695
696
697
698
699