Sir John mentioned his intended visit to Brierly, and offered to be the bearer of his message or intentions.
"Go with you."
"Ripley does not lie far out of our way; shall I call for you, Sir Foster? We shall be happy to offer you a seat in or outside the carriage, which you please."
Sir Foster smiled and hummed, which, according to Lucy Kerrison's reading, implied consent; they were therefore to have the pleasure of his company on their journey. Sir John would not feel annoyed by the accession of a taciturn companion; Sir Foster would, at least, be out of Clara's neighbourhood, and, what was more satisfactory, he would be beyond the reach of his lady's machinations.
After this arrangement, Sir Foster remained two hours, silently smiling in his chair, without changing his position, or appearing to feel the absence of his so lately affianced bride. Once initiated in another suite of apartments, it was more than likely he would, in future, seek the study as naturally as he had made his sederunt in the boudoir; but the proposed journey must interfere with his plans, and force them into other channels. Brierly and the blood-mare had present possession of his memory, and, unless they sank into the oblivious depths of his lethargic mind, Sir Foster was destined to become a millstone round the energies of Mr. Boscawen, and Clara must relinquish all hope of securing her fleeting lover.
Sir John was aware of his companion's eccentric habits, therefore his studies were quietly resumed, and Sir Foster was allowed to smile and doze out his allotted time in his own peculiar way. Happiness is very differently defined by individuals: Sir Foster considered it enjoyed in a long course of half-dreamy nothingness, seated in a soft arm-chair, tapping his boot, and not bored by questions or remarks: Mrs. Hancock and Mrs. Pynsent loved locomotion, and considered life given as a means of enjoyment in talking, walking, driving, laughing, and "fun:" Sir John Wetheral loved retirement with books: his lady confessed she delighted in matchmaking, and visiting different watering-places: yet do we know and feel happiness is not of this world; and our enjoyments prove, in the end, the highway to trials and cares.
Sir Foster Kerrison, at length, awoke from his long calm, and put on his hat. Christobelle was reading aloud to her father, but she became silent at this moment, which denoted preparation for departure. Sir Foster did not observe this; probably he did not see them, for he rose humming an air, and, winking very nervously, looked attentively at a portrait of "Eclipse," and walked deliberately out of the study. This was Sir Foster's "odd way," and no one ever took offence at any thing Sir Foster did or said. Sir John only remarked, in his gentle way, "Clara's idea of Sir Foster's temper may not coincide with mine—a young girl cannot understand how deeply her husband's temper may implicate her happiness—but I am astonished at her taste, in selecting a man whose manners must disgust a delicate woman, and who has already forgotten his dismissal, in anxiety to purchase a blood-mare at Brierly. I fear Clara is dazzled by motives which blind her to truth. I will take you to Brierly, my love, to-morrow: I long to get you away from this place."
When Christobelle passed through the chapel to reach her own room, she saw Clara and Sir Foster Kerrison walking in the avenue: she could not be mistaken; the chapel-window commanded the avenue, and Clara was seen distinctly. She appeared in very earnest conversation: Sir Foster led his horse by the bridle-rein, and Christobelle thought one arm was round Clara's waist. She remembered her mother's injunction "not to see" Sir Foster if she met him upon the premises; and she obeyed the spirit of her meaning, for she made no observation respecting what she had seen. Clara appeared at dinner perfectly calm and collected, and her spirits were higher than usual: she had not the pale cheek, or monumental look, which Shakespeare describes so pathetically—there was no sign that
"He she loved proved false, and did forsake her."