The more he was concerned at the
engagement, the greater stigma he would place on his own connivance;
so he said nothing, and only devoted himself to his grandmother, as
though the attendance upon her were a refuge and relief. More gentle
and patient than ever, he soothed her fretfulness, invented pleasures
for her, and rendered her so placid and contented, that her health
began to improve.
Not for a moment did he seem to forget his error; and Albinia's
resolution to separate Maurice from him, could not hold when he
himself silently assumed the mournful necessity, and put the child
from him when clamorous for rides, till there was an appeal to papa
and mamma. Mr. Kendal gave one look of inquiry at Albinia, and she
began some matter-of-course about Gilbert being so kind--whereupon
the brothers were together as before. When Albinia visited her
little boy at night, she found that Gilbert had been talking to him
of his eldest brother, and she heard more of Edmund's habits and
tastes from the little fellow who had never seen him, than from
either the twin-brother or the sister who had loved him so devotedly.
It was as if Gilbert knew that he could be doing Maurice no harm when
leading him to think of Edmund, and perhaps he felt some intrinsic
resemblance in the deep loving strength of the two natures.
The invitation to Fairmead spared him the pain and shame of Algernon
Dusautoy's first reception as Lucy's accepted lover.
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