Rosanna has fallen in love with Mr. Franklin Blake at first
sight!"
You have heard of beautiful young ladies falling in love at first
sight, and have thought it natural enough. But a housemaid out of a
reformatory, with a plain face and a deformed shoulder, falling in love,
at first sight, with a gentleman who comes on a visit to her mistress's
house, match me that, in the way of an absurdity, out of any story-book
in Christendom, if you can! I laughed till the tears rolled down my
cheeks. Penelope resented my merriment, in rather a strange way. "I
never knew you cruel before, father," she said, very gently, and went
out.
My girl's words fell upon me like a splash of cold water. I was savage
with myself, for feeling uneasy in myself the moment she had spoken
them--but so it was. We will change the subject, if you please. I am
sorry I drifted into writing about it; and not without reason, as you
will see when we have gone on together a little longer.
The evening came, and the dressing-bell for dinner rang, before Mr.
Franklin returned from Frizinghall. I took his hot water up to his
room myself, expecting to hear, after this extraordinary delay, that
something had happened.
Pages:
75
76
77
78
79
80
81
82
83
84
85
86
87
88
89
90
91
92
93
94
95
96
97
98
99