A low sigh escaped from him as he turned away from the cradle.
"Have you been long in England?" she asked.
"I came home last week. This is my second visit."
"Your first was to papa, I suppose?"
"Yes. Things are in a sad state there, Blanche. Your father is very much altered. But what could he expect? What could induce him to marry again?"
"Mama's conduct is shocking!—To think of a wife forgetting herself so!—Did you see her?"
"Yes, and she was as civil to me as ever, talked as hypocritically—and spoke of you in terms that made me excessively angry."
"What did she say?"
"It was not what she said, so much as the manner of saying it: the tone of pity, of false pity, affecting to look upon you as if..."
"And what... Did she speak of ... of Cecil!"