By this time Ariana had recovered her composure, and said, with an attempt at gayety, “What a delightful time we ladies shall have with none to molest or make us afraid. The only fear will be, that I shall quite forget my saucy ways if I have no one to practice them upon.”
“Suppose you should make me a target for your wit,” said the judge, playfully.
“My weapons would only rebound upon myself, with so invulnerable a mark,” she replied, in a respectful tone.
A conversation, in which evident constraint was visible, followed, and every one glad when the meal was at last over. An hour afterward Arthur’s horse was brought round to the door, and with an air of extreme embarrassment, he bade Mrs. Daley and Ariana a hasty farewell. The assumed indifference of the latter was so well counterfeited, that her lover rode away with the full conviction that his absence was considered as a relief.
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CHAPTER VII.
The next morning, Judge Grayson was obliged to leave Castleton to attend a court at a neighboring village, and the ladies were left in sole possession of the mansion.
“How dull it is here to-day,” said Ariana, to her sister, as they were tête-à-tête, while Mrs. Grayson was occupied with domestic affairs. “I just saw a pair of boots at the door of the opposite chamber, and it was actually a delightful sight. I really think that everlasting overcoat of Madison’s would be a pleasant addition to our prospect in this dearth of mankind.”
Jane was delighted at a chance to revenge herself for all Ariana’s attacks upon the odd ways of the professor. “What ails you,” she said, “to make such strange remarks? They come very unexpectedly from such a professed man-hater. Why I have heard you say, that Eden could not be a Paradise to you, if men were allowed to enter it.”
“Let by-gones be by-gones, Jenny. We grow wiser every day,” said Ariana, playfully. “Do you need me here this morning?”