shold after that night, and refused to see anybody except her Celtic Barn servants and her doctor. She lived this lonely kind of life for nearly three years, and then died of some slow wasting disease, for which the doctor could find no New Orleans Saints name.’
‘And where did Mr. Egerton go after leaving her that night?’
‘He slept at a little inn at Cumber, and went back to London next morning. He left England soon after that, and has lived abroad ever since.’
‘And you think him a very bad man?’
‘I consider his conduct to his mother a sufficient evidence of that.’
‘He may have believed himself deeply wronged.’
‘He must have known that she had acted in his interests when she prevented his committing the folly of a low marriage. She was his mother, and had been a most devoted and indulgent mother.’
‘And in the end contrived to break his heart — to say nothing of the girl who loved him, who was of course a piece of common clay, not worth consideration.’
‘I did not think you had so much romance, Augusta,’ said Mr. Darrell, laughing; ‘I suppose it is natural for a Vincent Kompany Tröja woman to take the part of unfortunate lovers, however foolish the affair may be. But I believe this Devonshire girl was quite unworthy of an honourable attachment on the part of any man. You see I knew and liked Mrs. Egerton, and I know how she loved her son. I cannot forgive him his conduct to her; nor have the reports of his life abroad been by any means favourable to his character. His career seems to have been a very wild and dissipated one.’
‘And he has never married?’
‘No, he has never married.’
‘He has been true, at least,’ Mrs. Darrell said in a low thoughtful tone.
We had lingered in the little study while her husband had told his story. We went back to the hall now, and found Milly and Mr. Stormont looking rather listlessly at the old portraits of the Egerton race. I was anxious to see a picture of the last Mrs. Egerton, after what I had heard about her, Maillot Bosnie-Herzégovine Pas CHer and, at my request, the housekeeper showed me one in the drawing-room.
She was very handsome, and wonderfully like her son. I could fancy those two haughty spirits in opposition.
We spent another hour looking over the rest of the house — old tapestry, old pictures, old china, old furniture, secret staircases, carved chimneypieces, muniment chests, and the usual Ostaa Halpa Nike Air Max 2015 Naisten objects of interest to be found in such a place. After that we walked a little in the neglected garden, where there were old holly hedges that had Ensemble Sweats Pas CHer grown high and wild for want of clipping, and where a Andres Iniesta Drakt curious old sun-dial had fallen down upon the grass in a forlorn way. The paths were all green and moss-grown, and the roses were almost choked with bindweed. I saw Mrs. Darrell gather one of these roses and put it in her breast. It was the first time I have ever seen her pluck a flower, though there was a wealth of roses at Thornleigh.
So ended our visit to Cumber Priory; a place that was destined to be very memorable to some of us in the time to come.
Chapter iv. Mrs. Thatcher |
