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Page 16
Many times the idea of seeking out his own relations occurred to him. He
had promised his father to do so. But, as a rule, people haven't much
enthusiasm about unknown relations; and Julius regarded his promise more
in the light of a duty to be performed than as the realization of a
pleasure. Still, on that dreary night, in the solitary dulness of his
very respectable inn, the Sandals, Lockerbys, and Piersons became three
possible sources of interest. While his thoughts were drifting in this
direction, the squire's letter was received; and the young man, who was
something of a fatalist, accepted it as the solution of a difficulty.
"Sandal turns the new leaf for me," he murmured; "the new leaf in the
book of life. I wonder what story will be written in it."
He answered the invitation while the enthusiasm of its reception swayed
him, and he promised to follow the letter immediately. The squire
received this information on Saturday night, as he was sitting with his
wife and daughters. "Your nephew Julius Sandal, from Calcutta, is coming
to pay us a visit, Alice," he said; and his air was that of a man who
thinks he is communicating a piece of startling intelligence. But the
three women had already exchanged every possible idea on the subject,
and felt no great interest in its further discussion.
"When is he coming?" asked Mrs. Sandal without enthusiasm; and Sophia
supplemented the question by remarking, "I suppose he has nowhere else
to go."
"I wouldn't say such things, Sophia; I would not."
"He has been in England some months, father."
"Well, then, he was only waiting till he was asked to come. I'm sure
that was a proper thing. If there is any blame between us, it is my
fault. I sent him a word of welcome last Wednesday morning, and it is
very likely he will be here to-morrow. I'm sure he hasn't let any grass
grow under his feet. Eh? What?"
Charlotte looked up quickly. "_Wednesday morning_." She was quite
capable of putting this and that together, and by a momentary mental
process she arrived at an exceedingly correct estimate of her father's
invitation. Her blue eyes scintillated beneath her dropped lids; and,
though she went calmly on tying the feather to the fishing-fly she was
making, she said, in a hurried and unsteady voice, "I know he will be
disagreeable, and I have made up my mind to dislike him."
Julius Sandal arrived the next morning when the ladies were preparing
for church. He had passed the night at Ambleside, and driven over to
Sandal in the first cool hours of the day. The squire was walking about
the garden, and he saw the carriage enter the park gates. He said
nothing to any one, but laid down his pipe, and went to meet it. Then
Julius made the first step towards his uncle's affection,--he left the
vehicle when they met, and insisted upon walking by his side.
When they reached the house, his valet was attending to the removal of
his luggage, and they entered the great hall together. At that moment
Mistress Charlotte's remarkable likeness seemed to force itself upon the
squire's attention. He was unable to resist the impulse which made him
lead his nephew up to it. "Let me introduce you, first of all, to your
father's mother. I greet you in her name as well as in my own." As he
spoke, the squire lifted his hat, and Julius did the same. It was a
sudden, and to both men a quite unexpected, ceremonial; and it gave an
air, touching and unusual, to his welcome.
And if that man is an ingrate who does not love his native land, how
much more _immediate_, tender, and personal must the feeling be for the
_home_ of one's own race. That stately lady, who seemed to meet him at
the threshold, was only the last of a long, shadowy line, whose hands
were stretched out to him, even from the dark, forgotten days in which
L�gberg Sandal laid the foundations of it. Julius was sensitive, and
full of imagination: he felt his heart beat quick, and his eyes grow dim
to the thought; and he loitered up the wide, low steps, feeling very
like a man going up the phantom stairway of a dream.
The squire's cheery voice broke the spell. "We shall be ready for church
in a quarter of an hour, Julius; will you remain at home, or go with
us?"
"I should like to go with you."
"That's good. It is but a walk through the park: the church is almost at
its gates."
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