Beta Book

Fanny had said, in this sly way: "Say you are sick--indeed you
are!--you'll cry!"
Verty rose just as she finished, and Miss Fanny, with negligent ease,
thanked him, and looked out of the window. Verty turned again toward
Redbud. She was standing up--one hand resting upon the arm of the
sofa, from which she had risen, the other placed upon her heart, as if
to still its tumultuous beating.
Verty's troubled glance fled to the tender, sorrowful face, and asked
why she had risen. Redbud, suppressing her emotion by a powerful
effort, said, almost coldly, that she felt unwell, and hoped he would
let her go up stairs. Indeed, (with a trembling voice), she was--not
well: he must excuse her; if--if--if he would--come again.
And finding her voice failing her, poor Redbud abruptly left the room,
and running to her chamber, threw herself on the bed, and burst into a
passion of tears.
She had obeyed Miss Lavinia.
Yes! with a throbbing heart, eyes full of tears, a tenderness toward
her boy-playmate she had never felt before, she had preserved her
calmness.


Pages:
155 156 157 158 159 160 161 162 163 164 165 166 167 168 169 170 171 172 173 174 175 176 177 178 179