If not the feeling of what was due to her, the dread of
the house without her might well have brought him to this.
Letty, for her part, believed her cousin Godfrey regarded her
with pity, and showed her kindness from a generous sense of duty;
she was a poor, dull creature for whom her cousin must do what he
could: one word of genuine love from him, one word even of such
love as was in him, would have caused her nature to shoot
heavenward and spread out earthward with a rapidity that would
have astonished him; she would thereby have come into her
spiritual property at once, and heaven would have opened to her--
a little way at least--probably to close again for a time. Now
she felt crushed. The idea of undertaking that for which she knew
herself so ill fitted was not merely odious but frightful to her.
She was ready enough to work, but it must be real, not sham work.
She must see and consult Mary! This was quite another affair from
Tom! She would take the first opportunity. In the mean time there
was nothing to be done or said; and with a heavy heart she held
her peace--only longed for her own room, that she might have a
cry. To her comfort the clock struck ten, and all that now lay
between her and that refuge was the usual round of the house with
Mrs. Wardour, to see all safe for the night. That done, they
parted, and Letty went slowly and sadly up the stair.
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