Ferrars.
Albinia suffered so much from the shock, that she could not make her
appearance till noon on the following day. Then, after sitting a
little while in the old study, to hear that grandmamma had not been
able to sleep all night for thinking of Maurice's danger, and being
told some terrible stories of accidents with horses, she felt one
duty done, and moved on to the drawing-room in search of her brother.
She found herself breaking upon a tete-a-tete. A sweet, full voice,
with strong cadences, was saying something about duty and advice, and
she would have retreated, but her brother and the stranger both
sprang up, and made her understand that she was by no means to go
away. No introduction was wanted; she grasped the hand that was
extended to her, and would have said something if she could, but she
found herself not strong enough to keep from tears, and only said, 'I
wish little Maurice were not gone out with his brother, but you will
dine with us, and see him to-morrow.'
'With the greatest pleasure, if my uncle and aunt will spare me.'
'They must,' said Albinia, 'you must come to meet your old friend and
_cousin_,' she added, mischievously glancing at Maurice, but he did
not look inclined to disavow the relationship, and the youth was not
a person whom any one would wish to keep at a distance. He seemed
about nineteen or twenty years of age, not tall, but well made, and
with an air of great ease and agility, rather lounging and careless,
yet alert in a moment.
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