“I will come down in a moment,” returned Marian, who wished a little time to dry her tears, for she had been weeping over the pictures of Frederic and Alice, both of which she had in her possession.
Accordingly, when Mrs. Sheldon was gone, she bathed her face until the stains had disappeared; then smoothing her collar and brushing her wavy hair, she descended to the parlor, where Ellen Gordon sat prepared to criticise, and William Gordon sat prepared for almost anything, though not for the vision which greeted his view when Marian Grey appeared before him. The dazzling purity of her complexion contrasted well with her black dress, and the natural bloom upon her cheek was increased by her embarrassment, while her eyes dropped modestly beneath the long-fringed lashes, which Ellen noticed at once, because they were the one coveted beauty which had been denied to herself.
“Jupiter!” was Will’s mental comment. “Mary didn’t exaggerate in the least, and Nell will have to yield the palm at once.”
Something like this passed through Ellen’s mind, but though on the whole a frank, right-minded girl, she was resolved upon finding fault with the stranger, simply because her mother and sister had said so much in her praise.
“She is vulgar, I know,” she thought, and she watched narrowly for something which should betray her low birth, but she waited in vain.
Marian was perfectly lady-like in her manners; her language was well chosen; her voice soft and low; and ere she had been with her half an hour, Ellen secretly acknowledged her superiority to most of the young ladies of her acquaintance, and she regretted that she, too, had not been educated at Mrs. Harcourt’s school, if such manners as Miss Grey’s were common there.
At Mrs. Sheldon’s request, Marian took her seat at the piano, and then Ellen hoped to criticise; but here again she was at fault, for Marian was a brilliant performer, keeping perfect time, and playing with the most exquisite taste.
As she was turning over the leaves of the music book after the close of the first piece, Will said to his sister:
“By the way, Nell, I had a letter from Fred to-day and he says he will be delighted to get you that music the first time he goes to the city.”
Marian started just as she had done that afternoon when Mrs. Sheldon called her youngest boy Fred. Still there was no reason why she should do so. Frederic was a common name, and she kept on turning the leaves, while Ellen replied, “What else did he write, and when is he going south?”