‘Did I not tell you so?’ he exclaimed.
‘You did—you did; but I did not understand. No more will Mary till she has seen her. I am afraid she will astonish Mama dreadfully.’
Fordyce chuckled. The thought of his mother had never made him chuckle before. But times were changing.
‘I shall write to Mary to-morrow,’ continued Agneta. ‘Crauford, I can quite understand about the gentleman who went to Spain.’
At this her brother’s smile faded, for the words made him think of the gentleman who might be returning from Spain. As soon as possible he must address himself to the task before him, namely, that of persuading Cecilia to make the wedding-day a fortnight earlier.
At the risk of wearying the reader, who has followed this history through letters, fragments of letters, receipts of letters, and even suppression of letters, Agneta’s somewhat ungrammatical sentiments must be given.
‘MY DEAR MARY’ (she wrote),
‘I do not know what Mama will say. We have arrived safe and waited upon Cousin Maitland where Miss Raeburn is staying. She is not at all like what we imagined. You said we could perhaps teach her to do her hair, but it is most beautifully done, and she has a lovely tortoiseshell comb handsomer than Lady Maria’s. She is not at all shy, even with Crauford, but she was most obliging and polite to him and to me too. Cousin Maitland says she thinks she likes her better than any young lady she ever saw. I don’t know what Mama will say because I am quite sure Miss Raeburn will not be afraid of her, for she looks as if she were not afraid of anybody or cared for anybody very much, not even Crauford. He told me she was very fond of flowers, but I think he must be mistaken, for he brought her some roses that were ever so expensive at this time of year and she thanked him nicely but she never looked at them after she had put them down. Cousin Maitland is a very odd person; her chin and nose nearly meet and she wears long earrings and said a lot of clever things I did not understand. She has an enamel snuff-box with rather a shocking picture on it. It is very nice being on a journey alone and ringing the bell when I want anything, but Jane forgot to bring my best slippers which is tiresome, as we are to dine with Cousin Maitland to-morrow. Give my love and respects to our father and mother and also from Crauford. I send my love to you.
‘Your affectionate sister,
‘AGNETA FORDYCE.