Volume Iii Part 19 (2/2)
”It is so, then?... it is as I hoped, my sweet Agnes?... and you will be doubly our sister?... Why did I not answer Hubert's letter? Because it was the most mystical, unintelligible, dark, and diplomatic performance that ever was put forth. Did you see it, Agnes?”
”No, I did not,” she replied, with a smile; ”but I can imagine that it might have been a little in that style. Yet still you should have answered it.”
”I did answer it--that is, I replied to it by a line or two written in a prodigious hurry; but you must perceive that I could not enclose Nora in a cover; and as she is, to all intents and purposes, _my answer_, I was obliged to let him wait till I could convey her properly, and place her before his eyes and his understanding.”
”And so convince him,” replied Agnes, with another smile, full of her new-born gaiety, ”that the moment she is seen all other ladies must be forgotten ... prove that to Colonel Hubert, Mr. Stephenson, and I will prove to you” ...
”What?--you tremendous-looking sibyl, what?”
”A very fatal sister!” she replied; and then the door opened, and Lady Stephenson preceded the two gentlemen she had brought from the dining-parlour, into the room.
Agnes, no longer the fearful, shrinking Agnes, sprang forward to meet them, and taking Colonel Hubert by the hand, led him to her father, saying in an altered accent, that at once entered his heart, and told him that all was right--”Let me present you to my father, Hubert--to my _dear_ father, Colonel Hubert; he will indeed be doubly dear to us, for he has brought with him a sister for both of us, whom I feel sure we shall for ever love.”
But hardly did Agnes, who seemed newly awakened from some heavy spell that had benumbed her heart--hardly did she give time for a courteous greeting between the gentlemen, ere she pa.s.sed her arm beneath that of Colonel Hubert, and led him to the sofa. Frederick started forward to meet him, and laying a hand on each shoulder, said in his ear, yet not so low but that Agnes heard him too--”It was lucky I did not take you to France with me, Hubert, or I should certainly never have got a wife at all; as it is, however, permit me”--he added aloud--”to present you, Colonel Hubert, to Miss Nora Willoughby. Nora, dearest, this gentleman is the best friend I have in the world--my brother's wife is his sister, and your sister, my fair bride elect, will very soon be his wife, or I cannot read the stars ... so, as you may perceive, our catastrophe is exceedingly like that great model of all catastrophes, in which the happy hero says ... 'And these are all my near relations--_ecce signum_, here is my own elder brother. Sir Edward Stephenson, Miss Nora Willoughby. Is she not charming, Edward? I hope I have pleased you at last, and their ladys.h.i.+ps, my sisters, too, for I a.s.sure you everything is very elegant, well-born, and so forth.... But you are not to sit down by her though, for all that, unless you make room for me between you, for she has already given away more smiles than I can at all afford to spare; and, besides, I have a hundred things to say to her ... I want to ask her how she likes you all.”
Colonel Hubert, as soon as his gay friend had reseated himself, gave one speaking look to Agnes, and then devoted himself entirely to Mr.
Willoughby.
By degrees, the party began to talk together with less of agitation and more of comfort; but Frederick was not permitted wholly to engross his young _fiancee_, for all the ladies crowded round her, and vied with each other in giving a cordial welcome to this young foreigner on the land of her fathers. She was in truth a very sweet young creature, and soon converted the kindness which circ.u.mstances called for, into very cordially liking. Distant hopes were talked of without reserve, and immediate arrangements canva.s.sed. Miss Compton kindly invited the young stranger to share her sister's apartment, a servant was despatched to secure rooms for Mr. Willoughby and Frederick at the hotel, and the happiness their unexpected arrival had brought to two hara.s.sed hearts of the party seemed to diffuse itself very delightfully among them all.
At length, Miss Compton's carriage was announced, and while the cloaks of the fair sisters were wrapped round them by their vowed servants, Mr.
Willoughby performed the same office for her, and took that opportunity of asking leave to wait upon her on the following morning, in order to relate to her such pa.s.sages of the history of his long exile as might, in some degree, account for his having left her adopted child for so many years without a father.
While this appointment was making with the aunt, the niece contrived, unheard by all, to whisper a word or two which led to an appointment for her also.
Colonel Hubert had more than once that evening taught her to understand, by the eloquence of looks, the delightful change that had been wrought within him; but it was Agnes who first found the opportunity of giving expression to it in words. He stood behind her as he arranged her cloak, and when this was done, she turned suddenly round to him, and said, in an accent of playful reproach, ”Hubert!... may I be happy now?”
His answer was, ”Will you see me to-morrow?... and alone?” She blushed--perhaps at remembering how often she had before wished to converse with him in the manner he now for the first time proposed, but she nodded her a.s.sent; he handed her to the carriage, pressed her hand, and whispered ”eleven o'clock” as he put her into it, and then mounted to his chamber without exchanging a word more with any living soul, that he might enjoy, for the first time since he had yielded up his heart, the luxury of meditating on Agnes and her promised love, without any mixture of self-reproach to poison the enjoyment.
CHAPTER XVII.
GREAT CONTENTMENT.
Had not Nora Willoughby been an interesting and amiable creature, her introduction at this moment to all the freedom of a sister's rights would certainly have been less agreeable than surprising to Agnes; and perhaps, notwithstanding the sweet expression of her lovely face, the pretty tenderness of her manner, and the lively interest which one so near in blood could not fail to awaken, Agnes, as she entered her bed-room on that eventful night, would rather have entered it alone. Her heart seemed too full to permit her conversing freely with any one; and it was by an effort not made altogether without pain, that she turned her thoughts from Hubert and all that vast world of happiness which appeared opening before them, to welcome her fair sister to her bower, and to begin such a conversation with her, as sisters so placed might be expected to hold. But she was soon rewarded for the exertion, for it was quite impossible to pa.s.s an hour of intimate intercourse with Nora without loving her, for she was made up of frankness, warm affection, light-heartedness, and sweet temper.
As soon as Peggy had performed all the services required of her, and that the door was fairly closed behind her, Nora threw her arms round the neck of Agnes, and pressed her in a long and fond embrace.
”Dear, dear Agnes!” she exclaimed, ”I wish you could share the pleasure that I enjoy at this moment--but it is impossible ... I come upon you suddenly, unexpectedly, unintelligibly, and must rather startle and astound, than give you the delight that you give me. For I have been preparing to love you for many weeks past, and have been longing till I was almost sick to get to you. And after such eager and sanguine expectations as mine, it is so delightful to find oneself not disappointed!”
”And is such the case with my sweet sister?” replied Agnes caressingly.
”Indeed, indeed it is!--Frederick told me you were very beautiful--but I did not expect to find you half so ... so elegant, so finished, so every way superior.”
”I shall quarrel with you, Nora, if you say such very fine things to me.... Perhaps I think you very pretty, too, dear; but if I do, I must not say so, because they tell us that we are so much alike, it would be like admiring myself.”
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