They read together Haldane's letters to his old Mend, and Margaret found in them many a kindly mention of her. Her brother would know of her arrival in England at about this time.
"You must promise to tell me what he says, James, if it is not something very disagreeable indeed."
And James promised.
From that day Margaret was a less unhappy woman than before. The first effect produced on her by Meredith's letter returned when she went to Davyntry, after Mr. Baldwin's departure, and was more than ever warmly greeted by her friend.
"I don't think I could bear Fitzwilliam's absence if I had not your society," Lady Davyntry said to her; and, fond and flattering as the words were, there was, not in them, but in the mood in which she listened to them, something that hurt Margaret.
The young widow's pride was for ever rebelling against the unshared knowledge of the experiences through which she had passed. Eleanor talked to her incessantly of her brother, of the Deane, of his occupations, his neighbours, and his popularity. The theme did not weary Margaret; and Lady Davyntry accepted her unflagging attention as a delightful omen.
"She misses him; I am sure she misses him," was her pleased mental comment.
"I hardly expected Margaret to remain so long at Davyntry to-day," said Mrs. Carteret to James Dugdale, as the family party were assembled in the drawing-room at Chayleigh.
James observed the emphasis, and replied:
"Indeed; why not?"