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Page 38
"It is Harry," said Sophia. "I must go to him, Julius."
He held her very firmly. "I am first. Wait a moment. You must promise me
once more: 'My life is your life, my love is your love, my will is your
will, my interest is your interest; I am your second self.' Will you say
this Sophia, as I say it?" And she answered him without a word. Love
knows how such speech may be. Even when she had escaped from her lover,
she was not very sorry to find that Harry had gone at once to his own
room; for he had driven through the approaching storm, and been
thoroughly drenched. She was longing for a little solitude to bethink
her of the new position in which she found herself; for, though she had
a dreamy curiosity about her pre-existences, she had a very active and
positive interest in the success and happiness of her present life.
Suddenly she remembered Charlotte, and with the remembrance came the
fact that she had not seen her since the early forenoon. But she
immediately coupled the circumstance with the absence of the squire, and
then she reached the real solution of the position in a moment. "They
have gone to Up-Hill, of course. Father always goes the day before
Christmas; and Charlotte, no doubt, expected to find Steve at home. I
must tell Julius about Charlotte and Steve. Julius will not approve of
a young man like Steve in our family, and it ought not to be. I am sure
father and mother think so."
At this point in her reflections, she heard Charlotte enter her own
room, but she did not go to her. Sophia had a dislike to wet, untidy
people, and she was not in any particular flurry to tell her success.
Indeed, she was rather inclined to revel for an hour in the sense of it
belonging absolutely to Julius and herself. She was not one of those
impolitic women, who fancy that they double their happiness by imparting
it to others.
She determined to dress with extraordinary care. The occasion warranted
it, surely; for it was not only Christmas Eve, it was also her betrothal
eve. She put on her richest garment, a handsome gown of dark blue silk
and velvet. A spray of mistletoe-berries was in her black hair, and a
glittering necklace of fine sapphires enhanced the beauty and whiteness
of her exquisite neck and shoulders. She was delighted with the effect
of her own brave apparel, and also a little excited with the course
events had taken, or she never would have so far forgotten the
privileges of her elder birth as to visit Charlotte's room first on
such an important personal occasion.
Charlotte was still wrapped in her dressing-gown, lazily musing before
the crackling, blazing fire. Her hands were clasped above her head, her
feet comfortably extended upon the fender, her eyes closed. She had been
a little tired with buffeting the storm; and the hot tea, which Mrs.
Sandal had insisted upon as a preventative of cold, had made her, as she
told Sophia, "deliciously dozy."
"But dinner will be ready in half an hour, and you have to dress yet,
Charlotte. How do I look?"
"You look charming. How bright your eyes are, Sophia! I never saw you
look so well. How much Julius will admire you to-night!"
"As to that, Julius always admires me. He says he used to dream about
me, even before he saw me."
"Oh, you know that is nonsense! He couldn't do that. I dare say he
dreams about you now, though. I should think he would like to."
"You will have to hurry, Charlotte."
"I can dress in ten minutes if I want to."
"I will leave you now." She hesitated a moment at the door, but she
could not bring herself to speak of her engagement. She saw that
Charlotte was in one of her "no-matter-every-thing-right" moods, and
knew she would take the important news without the proper surprise and
enthusiasm. In fact, she perceived that Harry's visit occupied her whole
mind; for, as she stood a moment or two irresolute as to her own
desires, Charlotte talked eagerly of her brother.
"Well, I hope if Harry is of so much importance in your eyes, you will
dress decently to meet him. The rector is coming to dinner also."
"I shall wear my blue gown. If I imitate you, I cannot be much out of
the way. Heigh-ho! Heigh-ho! I hope Harry will have a pleasant visit. We
must do our best, Sophia, to make him happy."
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