Sir Robert dispatched a letter next day to his sister, to invite her
and his beloved Mary to join the home party at Deerhurst without
delay. Pembroke rejoiced in this prospective relief to the minds of
his aunt and cousin, being well aware that he had left them in a
state of intense anxiety, not only on account of the baronet's
strange conduct,--which had not been explicable in any way to their
alarmed observations,--but on account of himself, whose mind had
appeared from the time of his father's incensed departure in a state
verging on derangement. On the instant of his return from the
deserted hotel, while passing Mary, whom he accidently met in his
bewildered way to Sir Robert's room, he had exclaimed to her, "I have
not seen Sobieski! he is gone! and your message is not delivered."
From the time of that harrowing intimation, he had constantly avoided
even the sight of his cousin or his aunt. Yet before he quitted the
Castle to obey his father's new commands, he had summoned courage to
enter Mary's boudoir, where she sat alone. Not trusting himself to
speak, he put the letter which Thaddeus had written to her into her
hand, and disappeared, not daring to await her opening what he knew
to be a last farewell.
He had guessed aright; for from the moment in which her trembling
hand had broken the seal and she had read it to the end, bathed in
her tears, it lay on her mourning heart, whether she waked or slept,
till her silent grief was roused to share her thoughts with a
personal exertion, welcome to that despondent heart.
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