“He ought certainly to have given the matter more consideration. I wish I could have been consulted by him. Is it too late yet?”
“I suspect it is,” said he, dryly. “First of all, as I told you, I am little in the habit of meeting a repulse; and, secondly, there is no time to renew the negotiation. I must leave this to-day.”
“To-day?”
“Within an hour,” added he, looking at his watch; “I must manage to reach Dublin in time to catch the mail-packet to-morrow morning.”
“This is very sudden, this determination.”
“Yes, I am called away by tidings I received awhile ago,—tidings of, to me, the deepest importance.”
“Mark will be extremely sorry,” said she, in a low tone.
“Not sorrier than I am,” said he, despondently.
“We all counted on your coming back with us to the Abbey; and it was only awhile ago Bella begged that we should wait here for a day or two, that we might return together, a family party.”
“What a flattery there is in the phrase!” said he, with deep feeling.