"But the better I am," said Eleanor, "I am sure the more there is to have."
"Be good for me," said he kissing her,—"and in my way. I will dispense with other goodness. I am in no danger of not having enough in you."
Eleanor walked back to the house, feeling as if an additional barrier were somehow placed between her and the light her mind wanted and the relief her heart sought after.
CHAPTER VI.
AT THE PRIORY.
"Here he lives in state and bounty,
Lord of Burleigh, fair and free;
Not a lord in all the county
Is so great a lord as he."
Lady Rythdale abhorred dinner-parties, in general and in particular. She dined early herself, and begged that the family from Ivy Lodge would come to tea. It was the first occasion of the kind; and the first time they had ever been there otherwise than as strangers visiting the grounds. Lady Rythdale was infirm and unwell, and never saw her country neighbours or interchanged civilities with them. Of course this was laid to something more than infirmity, by the surrounding gentry who were less in consequence than herself; but however it were, few of them ever saw the inside of the Priory House for anything but a ceremonious morning visit. Now the family at the Lodge were to go on a different footing. It was a great time, of curiosity, pleasure, and pride.
"What are you going to wear this evening, Eleanor?" her mother asked.
"I suppose, my habit, mamma."
"Your habit!"