He was too unobservant a man to notice that
Magdalen looked unaccountably startled, and Miss Garth unaccountably
relieved, by his announcement of Frank's good fortune. He talked on
about it, quite unsuspiciously, until the luncheon-bell rang--and then,
for the first time, he noticed Norah's absence. She sent a message
downstairs, after they had assembled at the table, to say that a
headache was keeping her in her own room. When Miss Garth went up
shortly afterward to communicate the news about Frank, Norah appeared,
strangely enough, to feel very little relieved by hearing it. Mr.
Francis Clare had gone away on a former occasion (she remarked), and had
come back. He might come back again, and sooner than they any of them
thought for. She said no more on the subject than this: she made no
reference to what had taken place in the shrubbery. Her unconquerable
reserve seemed to have strengthened its hold on her since the outburst
of the morning. She met Magdalen, later in the day, as if nothing had
happened: no formal reconciliation took place between them. It was one
of Norah's peculiarities to shrink from all reconciliations that were
openly ratified, and to take her shy refuge in reconciliations that were
silently implied.
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