Anstruther into the room, crossed it herself, and bending
over her mistress pronounced his name clearly in her ear.
Eleanor meanwhile stood immovable on the hearth-rug, bracing herself to
meet the hour of reckoning that had come so swiftly and in such a totally
unannounced manner upon her. She watched Mrs. Murray greet her old friend
with mingled surprise and pleasure, and then saw her look with perplexity
from him to herself as she stood motionless before the fire. Why, her
face mutely asked, did they not greet one another? Why did he merely
glance at his granddaughter and bow slightly in his stiff, old-fashioned
way as if to a stranger? and why did she give no greeting at all to her
grandfather?
"Margaret," she said at last, when the pause had lasted a full thirty
seconds, "do you not see your grandfather, dear?"
Mr. Anstruther fairly jumped at that, and shot a keen glance at Eleanor,
who still stood rigidly silent with the curious feeling strong on her
that the direction of affairs did not lie with her at all. This stern old
man who was eyeing her so severely would bring them to a crisis far more
swiftly than she was capable of doing. From her expressionless face he
looked straight into Mrs. Murray's puzzled, perturbed one. Obviously his
first thought was that her mind was as deficient as her hearing.
Pages:
249
250
251
252
253
254
255
256
257
258
259
260
261
262
263
264
265
266
267
268
269
270
271
272
273