“Yes,” she said, “how nice that would be when dear uncle is tired!”
And as the young man turned towards her as she spoke, he felt half inclined to modify his verdict of that very afternoon.
“Pretty! She is more than pretty,” he thought. For Geneviève was at her very loveliest just then. The tears and agitation of the morning had left their traces in an increased depth and tenderness of expression; there was a subdued softness about her face which Mr. Guildford had never remarked before. The unconcealed admiration of his glance caught Mrs. Methvyn’s observation. She smiled, and the smile was not misunderstood by Geneviève.
“That is what my aunt means,” thought the girl, referring in her own mind to something that Mrs. Methvyn had said during their drive, in the fulness of her motherly heart, about the pleasure it would give her to see Geneviève happy like her cousin,—happy as she who showed such appreciation of Cicely, surely deserved to be! And sorely as the girl was suffering, the idea was not altogether devoid of consolation.
“Where is Cicely?” said Mrs. Methvyn, as she entered the hall. “Have you seen her, Mr. Guildford?”
“Not very lately,” he replied. “It must be an hour and a half at least since I went up to Colonel Methvyn’s room, and I have not seen Miss Methvyn since then.”
“Miss Cicely is out; Mr. Fawcett called about an hour ago, and Miss Cicely went out into the garden with him,” said the old butler, in answer to his mistress’s inquiry.
“She will be in soon, I dare say,” said Mrs. Methvyn. “Run upstairs and let your uncle know we have come in, Geneviève dear, and then come and make tea for us in the library. You will not refuse a cup of tea, Mr. Guildford?”
Somewhat to her mother’s surprise, Cicely made her appearance in the library almost immediately. She came in by the glass door, alone, her hat in her hand, an unusual colour in her cheeks, and a forced brightness in her manner which did not deceive the loving eyes.
“What have you done with Trevor?” asked Mrs. Methvyn, with a would-be carelessness of tone. “Simmons said he had been here.”