'
'Well, I own I was surprised, but he told me you had readily come
into his views.'
Such was the usual tenor of consultations between the authorities,
until their marvel at themselves and each other came to a height when
they found themselves preparing for the wedding on the very day
originally chosen by Algernon.
Mr. Kendal's letter to Gilbert was an absolute apology. Gilbert in
Turkey was a very different person from Gilbert at Bayford, and had
assumed in his father's mind the natural rights of son and heir; he
seemed happy and valued, and the heat of the climate, pestiferous to
so many, seemed but to give his Indian constitution the vigour it
needed. When his comrades were laid up, or going away for better
air, much duty was falling on him, and he was doing it with hearty
good-will and effectiveness. Already the rapid changes had made him
a lieutenant, and he wrote in the highest spirits. Moreover, he had
fallen in with Bryan O'More, and had been able to do him sundry
kindnesses, the report of which brought Ulick to Willow Lawn in an
overflow of gratitude.
It was a strange state of affairs there. Albinia was ashamed of the
plea of 'could not help it,' and yet that was the only one to rest
on; the adherence to promises alone gave a sense of duty, and when or
how the promises had been given was not clear.
Besides, no one could be certain even about poor Lucy's present
satisfaction; she sometimes seemed like a little bird fluttering
under the fascination of a snake.
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