"
The captain was tender-hearted, and seemed quite unmanned, but he gave
his eyes a sudden stroke with his hand and turned to go away. "You
will command me, Nancy, if I can be of service to you?" he inquired,
and his cousin bowed her head in assent. It was, indeed, a dismal hour
of the family history.
For some time Miss Prince did not move, except as she watched Captain
Parish cross the street and take his leisurely way along the uneven
pavement. She was almost tempted to call him back, and felt as if he
were the last friend she had in the world, and was leaving her
forever. But after she had allowed the worst of the miserable shock to
spend itself, she summoned the stern energy for which she was famous,
and going with slower steps than usual to the next room, she unlocked
the desk of the ponderous secretary and seated herself to write.
Before many minutes had passed the letter was folded, and sealed, and
addressed, and the next evening Nan was reading it at Oldfields. She
was grateful for being asked to come on the 5th of June to Dunport,
and to stay a few days if it were convenient, and yet her heart fell
because there was not a sign of welcome or affection in the stately
fashioning of the note. It had been hardly wise to expect it under the
circumstances, the girl assured herself later, and at any rate it was
kind in her aunt to answer her own short letter so soon.
XV
HOSTESS AND GUEST
Nan had, indeed, resolved to take a most important step.
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