"No," he said to himself,
"not the cold extreme, whatever else it may be. So much the worse for
her, and for all belonging to her."
There was a momentary pause. Once more the dripping rustle of the rain
and the steady ticking of the clock filled up the gap of silence. Mr.
Pendril put the Instructions back in his pocket, considered a little,
and, turning toward Norah and Miss Garth, recalled their attention to
the present and pressing necessities of the time.
"Our consultation has been needlessly prolonged," he sail, "by painful
references to the past. We shall be better employed in settling our
arrangements for the future. I am obliged to return to town this
evening. Pray let me hear how I can best assist you; pray tell me what
trouble and what responsibility I can take off your hands."
For the moment, neither Norah nor Miss Garth seemed to be capable of
answering him. Magdalen's reception of the news which annihilated the
marriage prospect that her father's own lips had placed before her not
a month since, had bewildered and dismayed them alike. They had summoned
their courage to meet the shock of her passionate grief, or to face the
harder trial of witnessing her speechless despair.
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