She did everything in her power to make it pleasant for him during the little time that remained to him at home; she meant that he should at least take away agreeable memories with him, and he assured her again and again that he should never forget her kindness to him, for all that she was doing for him.
“You have been like a mother to me, Lady Linton, ever since I came to Heathdale,” he said, gratefully, to her one day when she was arranging something for his comfort during the voyage.
“And you have been like a son to me, my dear boy,” she returned, with a fond glance. “I shall always regard you as such. I am sure I do not know what we are going to do without you.”
“Six months will soon pass,” Rupert said, trying to speak lightly.
“They may to you, who will be traveling constantly, but they will be long to us who wait at home. Poor Lillian! I set her to marking some handkerchiefs for you this morning, but she broke down and cried so over her work that she had to give it up.”
“I am afraid I am an unworthy subject for so much regret,” Rupert said, with a sigh.
Lillian’s regard for him, her pale, sad face, and hollow eyes, were a great burden on his heart.
The day of his departure arrived, and he took an affectionate leave of his friends.
Lady Linton embraced him as fervently as if he had indeed been her son, bade him take care of himself and come safely back to them, for it would break their hearts to lose him entirely. Percy wished him every possible pleasure, and promised to write to him every week. Lillian gave him an icy cold hand at parting; there were tears on her dark lashes, and her lips quivered painfully over her farewell; but she would not allow him to kiss her in the old friendly fashion, as he used to do when he and Percy went back to school at the end of their holidays. She had vowed that their lips should never meet again until he had given her a lover’s kiss.
Rupert looked troubled at being thus repulsed. He understood the reason for it, however, and it was with a feeling of relief that he realized he was to have six months in which to make up his mind as to what his duty was toward his guardian’s niece.