Her going to Ireland is very fortunate.
It has made me still more glad that the plan should take place at once.
And you say nothing to nobody?
Of course not. We must not let him guess we have observed anything; there is no need to make your father uncomfortable, and such things need not dawn on Amys imagination.
It may be wondered at that Mrs. Edmonstone should confide such a subject to her son, but she knew that in a case really affecting his sister, and thus introduced, his silence was secure. In fact, confidence was the only way to prevent the shrewd, unscrupulous raillery which would have caused great distress, and perhaps led to the very disclosure to be deprecated. Of late, too, there had been such a decrease of petulance in Charles, as justified her in trusting him, and lastly, it must be observed that she was one of those open-hearted people who cannot make a discovery nor endure an anxiety without imparting it. Her tact, indeed, led her to make a prudent choice of confidants, and in this case her son was by far the best, though she had spoken without premeditation. Her nature would never have allowed her to act as her daughter was doing; she would have been without the strength to conceal her feelings, especially when deprived of the safety-valve of free intercourse with their object.
The visit took place as arranged, and very uncomfortable it was to all who looked deeper than the surface. In the first place, Philip found there the last person he wished his friend to meetLady Eveleen, who had been persuaded to stay for the dinner-party; but Mr. Thorndale was, as Charles would have said, on his good behaviour, and, ashamed of the fascination her manners exercised over him, was resolved to resist it, answered her gay remarks with brief sentences and stiff smiles, and consorted chiefly with the gentlemen.
Laura was grave and silent, trying to appear unconscious, and only succeeding in being visibly constrained. Philip was anxious and stern in his attempts to appear unconcerned, and even Guy was not quite as bright and free as usual, being puzzled as to how far he was forgiven about the ball.
Amabel could not think what had come to every one, and tried in vain to make them sociable. In the evening they had recourse to a game, said to be for Charlottes amusement, but in reality to obviate some of the stiffness and constraint; yet even this led to awkward situations. Each person was to set down his or her favourite character in history and fiction, flower, virtue, and time at which to have lived, and these were all to be appropriated to the writers. The first read was
Lily of the valleytruthJoan of ArcPadre Cristoforothe present time.
Amy! exclaimed Guy.
I see you are right, said Charles; but tell me your grounds!
Padre Cristoforo, was the answer.
Fancy little Amy choosing Joan of Arc, said Eveleen, she who is afraid of a tolerable sized grasshopper.
I should like to have been Joans sister, and heard her tell about her visions, said Amy.
You would have taught her to believe them, said Philip.
Taught her! cried Guy. Surely you take the high view of her.
I think, said Philip, that she is a much injured person, as much by her friends as her enemies; but I dont pretend to enter either enthusiastically or philosophically into her character.
What was it that made Guys brow contract, as he began to strip the feather of a pen, till, recollecting himself, he threw it from him with a dash, betraying some irritation, and folded his hands.
Lavender, read Charlotte.
What should make any one choose that? cried Eveleen.
I know! said Mrs. Edmonstone, looking up. I shall never forget the tufts of lavender round the kitchen garden at Stylehurst.