Another night's rest, it is true, sent
the evil mood to sleep again for a time, but did not exorcise it;
for there are demons that go not out without prayer, and a bad
temper is one of them--a demon as contemptible, mean-spirited,
and unjust, as any in the peerage of hell--much petted,
nevertheless, and excused, by us poor lunatics who are possessed
by him. Mrs. Wardour was a lady, as the ladies of this world go,
but a poor lady for the kingdom of heaven: I should wonder much
if she ranked as more than a very common woman there.
The next day all was quiet; and a visit paid Mrs. Wardour by a
favorite sister whom she had not seen for months, set Letty at
such liberty as she seldom had. In the afternoon she took the
book Godfrey had given her, in which he had set her one of
Milton's smaller poems to study, and sought the shadow of the
Durnmelling oak.
It was a lovely autumn day, the sun glorious as ever in the
memory of Abraham, or the author of Job, or the builder of the
scaled pyramid at Sakkara. But there was a keenness in the air
notwithstanding, which made Letty feel a little sad without
knowing why, as she seated herself to the task Cousin Godfrey had
set her. She, as well as his mother, heartily wished he were
home. She was afraid of him, it is true; but in how different a
way from that in which she was afraid of his mother! His absence
did not make her feel free, and to escape from his mother was
sometimes the whole desire of her day.
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