“I was afraid you might find such a kind of pupil in Anna.”
“No; Miss Anna is sometimes absent, but she is so from the fulness, not from the emptiness of her mind. Not that I would excuse the habit, for it is very fatal to improvement at her age.”
“Show her that you think so; have no mercy on her if she does not attend to you as she ought.”
“I will try,” said the Signor, laughing, “how severe I can be, if there should be reason for complaint.”
The scene of the meeting was one of great animation. The place was nearly full when our party arrived, and the assemblage was gayer and more various than any the girls had ever seen. There were parties of fashionably dressed ladies, seated beside families of friends in their neat white shawls and drab bonnets. Members of parliament, country gentlemen, and city merchants, met on the hustings, and shook hands, and consulted, and handed papers about, and looked full of business and cheerfulness. Mr. Byerley longed to be among them; and his daughters remarked, as soon as they entered, how well he seemed to be known there. He introduced his daughters to the family of one of his friends, who made room for them on their bench, and requested Mr. Byerley to leave them under their care, as they knew he was wanted on the hustings. The girls found so much to observe, that they could scarcely keep up a conversation with their new acquaintances, and had almost forgotten the object of the meeting in the bustle of the preparation. They watched their father’s progress through the crowd, as he turned to one, made a sign to another, was heartily welcomed by a third, and was held by the button by a fourth.
“Your father will speak, I suppose,” said Miss R—— to Mary.
“I believe not; at least, I heard nothing of his having such an intention.”
“Oh! he certainly will. Look! Mr. B—— is putting one of the resolutions into his hand.”
“Is that Mr. B——?” exclaimed Mary, starting from her seat. “Anna, that is Mr. B—— that papa is talking to.”
“Hush! you must sit down,” said Miss R——, laughing: “you must come and see us some day, and we will introduce you to him, if you wish it.”