Sir William sat down by a table that was drawn close to a cheerful fire, and, leaning back lazily in the huge lounging chair stationed there, he took up the morning paper which lay open at his hand.
He had read scarcely a dozen lines, when the door behind him opened and some one came forward, saying, in an eager tone:
“Oh, Virgie, I have just found an old Bible up stairs, in which there are records of all family births, marriages, and deaths for many generations; my grandmother’s and my mother’s are among them and correspond exactly with those I have—ah! excuse me; sir—I thought—oh, Heaven!”——
CHAPTER XXIII.
REUNITED.
Virginia Alexander had gone up to her room less than half an hour previous, leaving Virgie in the library reading, and snugly ensconced in that great lounging chair by the fire.
While looking for something in a closet, she had come across the old Bible referred to, and opening it for examination, she had found a complete genealogical record covering more than a century and a half.
Delighted with her discovery, she hastened back to Virgie—who meantime had stolen out for a little exercise—eager to tell her news, and, coming into the room turning the leaves of the book, she had not noticed that a stranger was there until Sir William suddenly arose, his heart bounding within him at the sound of that well-remembered voice, and turned toward her.
She had not seen him for more than eighteen years, and he had changed far more than she during that time.
Sorrow had saddened him somewhat; he had grown grave and dignified, and his hair had just begun to be streaked with silver. There were lines about his mouth telling of a grief that he had never outgrown, there was a wistful look in his eyes showing that his heart still yearned for the love of his youth. His form, too, had developed; he was broader-shouldered and stouter.
But he was a grand and kingly looking man, and she knew him in a moment.