Dynevor Terrace, vol 2 | Page 7

day, without the sense of stolen felicity,
which is a charm to common-place minds. My glory is in the assurance
that you understand my letter, approve, and are relieved. With such

sanction, and with ardour before you like mine, I see that you could do
no other than consent, and there is not a shadow of censure in my mind;
but if, without compromising your sense of obedience, you could
openly avow our engagement to Mr. Mansell, I own that I should feel
that we were not drawn into a compromise of sincerity. What this costs
me I will not say; it will be bare existence till we meet at Scarborough.
'Your own, J. E. F. D.'
Having written this and deposited it in the Ebbscreek post-office, James
bethought himself that his submissive cousin had thrown himself on the
floor, with his bag for a pillow, trying to make the most of the few
moments of rest before the midnight journey. Seized with compunction,
James exclaimed, 'There, old fellow, we will stay to- night.'
'Thank you--' He was too sleepy for more.
The delay was recompensed. James was trying to persuade Louis to
rouse himself to be revived by bread-and-cheese and beer, and could
extort nothing but a drowsy repetition of the rhyme, in old days the
war-cry of the Grammar-school against the present headmaster,--
'The Welshman had liked to be choked by a mouse, But he pulled him
out by the tail,'--
when an alarum came in the shape of a little grinning boy from
Beauchastel, with a note on which James had nearly laid hands, as he
saw the writing, though the address was to the Viscount Fitzjocelyn.
'You may have it,' said Louis. 'If anything were wanting, the
coincidence proves that you were cut out for one another. I rejoice that
the moon does not stoop from her sphere.'
'My Dear Cousin,--I trust to you to prevent Mr. F. Dynevor from being
hurt or disappointed; and, indeed, I scarcely think he will, though I
should not avail myself of the permission for meeting him so kindly
intended. I saw at once that you felt as I did, and as I know he will. He
would not like me to have cause to blush before my kind friends--to
know that I had acted a deceit, nor to set an example to my sisters for
which they might not understand the justification. I know that you will
obtain my pardon, if needed; and to be assured of it, would be all that
would be required to complete the grateful happiness of 'Isabel.'
The boy had orders not to wait; and these being seconded by fears of
something that 'walked' in Ebbscreek wood after dark, he was gone
before an answer could be thought of. It mattered the less, since Isabel

must receive James's note early in the morning; and so, in fact, she
did--and she was blushing over it, and feeling as if she could never
have borne to meet his eye but for the part she had fortunately taken,
when Louisa tapped at her door, with a message that Mr. Mansell
wished to speak with her, if she were ready.
She went down-stairs still in a glow; and her old friend's first words
were a compliment on her roses, so pointed, that she doubted for a
moment whether he did not think them suspicious, especially as he put
his hands behind his back, and paced up and down the room, for some
moments. He then came towards her, and said, in a very kind tone,
'Isabel, my dear, I sent for you first, because I knew your own mother
very well, my dear; and though Lady Conway is very kind, and has
always done you justice,--that I will always say for her,--yet there are
times when it may make a difference to a young woman whether she
has her own mother or not.'
Isabel's heart was beating. She was certain that some discovery had
been made, and longed to explain; but she was wise enough not to
speak in haste, and waited to see how the old gentleman would finally
break it to her. He blundered on a little longer, becoming more
confused and distressed every minute, and at last came to the point
abruptly. 'In short, Isabel, my dear, what can you have done to set
people saying that you have been corresponding with the young men at
Ebbscreek?'
'I sent a note to my cousin Fitzjocelyn last night,' said Isabel, with such
calmness, that the old gentleman fairly stood with his mouth open,
looking at her aghast.
'Fitzjocelyn! Then it is Fitzjocelyn, is it?' he exclaimed. 'Then, why
could he not set about it openly and honourably? Does his father object?
I would not have thought it of