Yet she did not immediately set about packing, Ned probably had
moments of misgiving, and of secret cursing, when he feared he might
be reckoning without his host. The rest of us, at the time, knew
nothing of what passed between the two: he pretended that the extra
trunks were for some mysterious baggage of his own: nor did we then
know what passed between her and Captain Falconer late in the day, and
upon which, indeed, her decision regarding Ned's offer depended.
She had watched at our window for the captain's passing. When at
length he appeared, she was standing so close to the glass, her eyes
so unmistakably met his side-look, that he could not pretend he had
not seen her. As he bowed with most respectful civility, she beckoned
him with a single movement of a finger, and went, herself, to let him
in. When he had followed her into our parlour, his manner was
outwardly of the most delicate consideration, but she thought she saw
beneath it a certain uneasiness. They spoke awhile of her removal from
her father's house; but he avoided question as to its cause, or as to
her intentions. At last, she said directly, with assumed lightness:
"I think of going to London with my brother, on the _Phoebe_."
She was watching him closely: his face brightened wonderfully.
"I vow, you could do nothing better," he said. "_There_ is _your_
world. I've always declared you were a stranger in this far-off land.
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