She looked forward with longing, though unspoken interest to thehomely object of Dixon"s return from Milton; where, until now, the oldservant had been busily engaged in winding up all the affairs of theHale family. It had appeared a sudden famine to her heart, this entirecessation of any news respecting the people amongst whom she hadlived so long. It was true, that Dixon, in her business-letters, quoted,every now and then, an opinion of Mr. Thornton"s as to what she hadbetter do about the furniture, or how act in regard to the landlord of theCrampton Terrace house. But it was only here and there that the namecame in, or any Milton name, indeed; and Margaret was sitting oneevening, all alone in the Lennoxes"s drawing-room, not reading Dixon"sletters, which yet she held in her hand, but thinking over them, andrecalling the days which had been, and picturing the busy life out ofwhich her own had been taken and never missed; wondering if all wenton in that whirl just as if she and her father had never been; questioningwithin herself, if no one in all the crowd missed her, (not Higgins, shewas not thinking of him,) when, suddenly, Mr. Bell was announced; andMargaret hurried the letters into her work-basket, and started up,blushing as if she had been doing some guilty thing.
"Oh, Mr. Bell! I never thought of seeing you!"
"But you give me a welcome, I hope, as well as that very pretty start ofsurprise."
"Have you dined? How did you come? Let me order you some dinner."
"If you"re going to have any. Otherwise, you know, there is no one whocares less for eating than I do. But where are the others? Gone out todinner? Left you alone?"
"Oh yes! and it is such a rest. I was just thinking--But will you run therisk of dinner? I don"t know if there is anything in the house."
"Why, to tell you the truth, I dined at my club. Only they don"t cook aswell as they did, so I thought, if you were going to dine, I might try andmake out my dinner. But never mind, never mind! There aren"t tencooks in England to be trusted at impromptu dinners. If their skill andtheir fires will stand it, their tempers won"t. You shall make me sometea, Margaret. And now, what were you thinking of? you were going totell me. Whose letters were those, god-daughter, that you hid away sospeedily?"
"Only Dixon"s," replied Margaret, growing very red.
"Whew! is that all? Who do you think came up in the train with me?"
"I don"t know," said Margaret, resolved against making a guess.
"Your what d"ye call him? What"s the right name for a cousin-in-law"sbrother?"
"Mr. Henry Lennox?" asked Margaret.
"Yes," replied Mr. Bell. "You knew him formerly, didn"t you? What sortof a person is he, Margaret?"
"I liked him long ago," said Margaret, glancing down for a moment. Andthen she looked straight up and went on in her natural manner. "Youknow we have been corresponding about Frederick since; but I have notseen him for nearly three years, and he may be changed. What did youthink of him?"
"I don"t know. He was so busy trying to find out who I was, in the firstinstance, and what I was in the second, that he never let out what hewas; unless indeed that veiled curiosity of his as to what manner of manhe had to talk to was not a good piece, and a fair indication of hischaracter. Do you call him good looking, Margaret?"
"No! certainly not. Do you?"
"Not I. But I thought, perhaps, you might. Is he a great deal here?"
"I fancy he is when he is in town. He has been on circuit now since Icame. But--Mr. Bell--have you come from Oxford or from Milton?"
"From Milton. Don"t you see I"m smoke-dried?"
"Certainly. But I thought that it might be the effect of the antiquities ofOxford."
"Come now, be a sensible woman! In Oxford, I could have managed allthe landlords in the place, and had my own way, with half the troubleyour Milton landlord has given me, and defeated me after all. He won"ttake the house off our hands till next June twelvemonth. Luckily, Mr.
Thornton found a tenant for it. Why don"t you ask after Mr. Thornton,Margaret? He has proved himself a very active friend of yours, I can tellyou. Taken more than half the trouble off my hands."
"And how is he? How is Mrs. Thornton?" asked Margaret hurriedly andbelow her breath, though she tried to speak out.
"I suppose they"re well. I"ve been staying at their house till I was drivenout of it by the perpetual clack about that Thornton girl"s marriage. Itwas too much for Thornton himself, though she was his sister. He usedto go and sit in his own room perpetually. He"s getting past the age forcaring for such things, either as principal or accessory. I was surprisedto find the old lady falling into the current, and carried away by herdaughter"s enthusiasm for orange-blossoms and lace. I thought Mrs.
Thornton had been made of sterner stuff."
"She would put on any assumption of feeling to veil her daughter"sweakness," said Margaret in a low voice.
"Perhaps so. You"ve studied her, have you? She doesn"t seem over fondof you, Margaret."
"I know it," said Margaret. "Oh, here is tea at last!" exclaimed she, as ifrelieved. And with tea came Mr. Henry Lennox, who had walked up toHarley Street after a late dinner, and had evidently expected to find hisbrother and sister-in-law at home. Margaret suspected him of being asthankful as she was at the presence of a third party, on this their firstmeeting since the memorable day of his offer, and her refusal atHelstone. She could hardly tell what to say at first, and was thankful forall the tea-table occupations, which gave her an excuse for keepingsilence, and him an opportunity of recovering himself. For, to tell thetruth, he had rather forced himself up to Harley Street this evening, witha view of getting over an awkward meeting, awkward even in thepresence of Captain Lennox and Edith, and doubly awkward now thathe found her the only lady there, and the person to whom he mustnaturally and perforce address a great part of his conversation. She wasthe first to recover her self-possession. She began to talk on the subjectwhich came uppermost in her mind, after the first flush of awkwardshyness.
"Mr. Lennox, I have been so much obliged to you for all you have doneabout Frederick."
