Grace was better, as I fancied at least, and it was certain
she was more composed and less nervous than I had seen her since my
return; and this of itself was removing the weight of a mountain from
my heart. There was Lucy, too, her rounded cheek rosy with the
pleasure of the moment, full of health, and with eyes that never
turned on me that they did not beam with confidence and kindness--the
sincerest friendship, if not love--while every look, movement,
syllable or gesture that was directed towards Grace, betrayed how
strongly the hearts of these two precious creatures were still knit
together in sisterly affection. My guardian too seemed happier than he
had been since our conversation on the state of my own feelings
towards his daughter. He had made a condition, that we should all--the
doctor excepted--return to Clawbonny in time for service on the
ensuing Sunday, and he was then actually engaged in looking over an
old sermon for the occasion, though not a minute passed in which he
did not drop the manuscript to gaze about him, in deep enjoyment of
the landscape. The scene, moreover, was so full of repose, that even
the movements of the different vessels scarce changed its Sabbath-like
character. I repeat, that I had not felt so perfectly happy since I
held my last conversation with the Salem Witches, in The Duomo of
Firenze.
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