‘I rejoice to hear it; but tell me, will this evening or to-morrow morning suit you best?’
‘Thank you, to-morrow, if you please,’ said Violet, glad to defer the evil day.
At that moment she was astonished by the sudden apparition of Lord St. Erme, and still more by his shaking hands with her. She thanked him for his touches to her little boy’s portrait; he smiled, rejoiced that she did not think he had spoilt it, and remarked upon the likeness. Lord Martindale, who knew him but slightly, listened in surprise; and having now come to her own door, she bade them farewell, and entered the house.
Theodora came back much later than Violet had expected, with a flush on her cheek, and hurry and uncertainty in her manner. She had previously made a great point of their spending this last evening alone together, but her mood was silent. She declared herself bent on finishing the volume of Miss Strickland’s “Queens”, which they were reading together, and went on with it till bed-time without intermission, then wished Violet good night without another word.
But Violet was no sooner in bed than Theodora came in, in her dressing-gown, and sat down at her feet, looking at her, but hardly answering the few words she ventured to speak. It was not till the clock struck twelve that she rose from her seat.
‘Well, I must go; but I don’t know how to tear myself from the sight of you. I feel as if I was driven from the only place where I ever might be good.’
‘No,’ whispered Violet; ‘wherever our duty lies, we can be good.’
‘I could, if you were with me, to calm me, and tell me such things.’
‘You do not want me to tell you them. You have the Bible and Prayer Book.’
‘I never saw the right way to follow them; till now, when it was gleaming on me, I have to go away.’