But the light
in her large gray eyes was bright and steady as ever; and her voice,
though low in tone, was clear and resolute in accent as she addressed
the lawyer in these terms:
"I understood you to say, Mr. Pendril, that my father's brother had
sent his written orders to London, and that you had a copy. Have you
preserved it?"
"Certainly."
"Have you got it about you?"
"I have."
"May I see it?"
Mr. Pendril hesitated, and looked uneasily from Magdalen to Miss Garth,
and from Miss Garth back again to Magdalen.
"Pray oblige me by not pressing your request," he said. "It is surely
enough that you know the result of the instructions. Why should you
agitate yourself to no purpose by reading them? They are expressed so
cruelly; they show such abominable want of feeling, that I really cannot
prevail upon myself to let you see them."
"I am sensible of your kindness, Mr. Pendril, in wishing to spare me
pain. But I can bear pain; I promise to distress nobody. Will you excuse
me if I repeat my request?"
She held out her hand--the soft, white, virgin hand that had touched
nothing to soil it or harden it yet.
"Oh, Magdalen, think again!" said Norah.
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