It was from Roderick, and consisted of but three lines: "I am gone to
Frascati--for meditation. If I am not at home on Friday, you had
better join me." On Friday he was still absent, and Rowland went out to
Frascati. Here he found his friend living at the inn and spending his
days, according to his own account, lying under the trees of the Villa
Mondragone, reading Ariosto. He was in a sombre mood; "meditation"
seemed not to have been fruitful. Nothing especially pertinent to our
narrative had passed between the two young men since Mrs. Light's ball,
save a few words bearing on an incident of that entertainment. Rowland
informed Roderick, the next day, that he had told Miss Light of his
engagement. "I don't know whether you 'll thank me," he had said, "but
it 's my duty to let you know it. Miss Light perhaps has already done
so."
Roderick looked at him a moment, intently, with his color slowly
rising. "Why should n't I thank you?" he asked. "I am not ashamed of my
engagement."
"As you had not spoken of it yourself, I thought you might have a reason
for not having it known.
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