登陆注册
5229500000054

第54章 Chapter XXI. The Governess.(1)

Linley had one instant left, in which he might have drawn, back into the library in time to escape Sydney's notice. He was incapable of the effort of will. Grief and suspense had deprived him of that elastic readiness of mind which springs at once from thought to action. For a moment he hesitated. In that moment she looked up and saw him.

With a faint cry of alarm she let the cloak drop from her hands.

As helpless as he was, as silent as he was, she stood rooted to the spot.

He tried to control himself. Hardly knowing what he said, he made commonplace excuses, as if he had been a stranger: "I am sorry to have startled you; I had no idea of finding you in this room."

Sydney pointed to her cloak on the floor, and to her hat on a chair near it. Understanding the necessity which had brought her into the room, he did his best to reconcile her to the meeting that had followed.

"It's a relief to me to have seen you," he said, "before you leave us."

A relief to him to see her! Why? How? What did that strange word mean, addressed to _her?_ She roused herself, and put the question to him.

"It's surely better for me," he answered, "to hear the miserable news from you than from a servant."

"What miserable news?" she asked, still as perplexed as ever.

He could preserve his self-control no longer; the misery in him forced its way outward at last. The convulsive struggles for breath which burst from a man in tears shook him from head to foot.

"My poor little darling!" he gasped. "My only child!"

All that was embarrassing in her position passed from Sydney's mind in an instant. She stepped close up to him; she laid her hand gently and fearlessly on his arm. "Oh, Mr. Linley, what dreadful mistake is this?"

His dim eyes rested on her with a piteous expression of doubt. He heard her--and he was afraid to believe her. She was too deeply distressed, too full of the truest pity for him, to wait and think before she spoke. "Yes! yes!" she cried, under the impulse of the moment. "The dear child knew me again, the moment I spoke to her. Kitty's recovery is only a matter of time."

He staggered back--with a livid change in his face startling to see. The mischief done by Mrs. Presty's sense of injury had led already to serious results. If the thought in Linley, at that moment, had shaped itself into words, he would have said, "And Catherine never told me of it!" How bitterly he thought of the woman who had left him in suspense--how gratefully he felt toward the woman who had lightened his heart of the heaviest burden ever laid on it!

Innocent of all suspicion of the feeling that she had aroused, Sydney blamed her own want of discretion as the one cause of the change that she perceived in him. "How thoughtless, how cruel of me," she said, "not to have been more careful in telling you the good news! Pray forgive me."

"You thoughtless! you cruel!" At the bare idea of her speaking in that way of herself, his sense of what he owed to her defied all restraint. He seized her hands and covered them with grateful kisses. "Dear Sydney! dear, good Sydney!"

She drew back from him; not abruptly, not as if she felt offended. Her fine perception penetrated the meaning of those harmless kisses--the uncontrollable outburst of a sense of relief beyond the reach of expression in words. But she changed the subject. Mrs. Linley (she told him) had kindly ordered fresh horses to be put to the carriage, so that she might go back to her duties if the doctor sanctioned it.

She turned away to take up her cloak. Linley stopped her. "You can't leave Kitty," he said, positively.

A faint smile brightened her face for a moment. "Kitty has fallen asleep--such a sweet, peaceful sleep! I don't think I should have left her but for that. The maid is watching at the bedside, and Mrs. Linley is only away for a little while."

"Wait a few minutes," he pleaded; "it's so long since we have seen each other."

The tone in which he spoke warned her to persist in leaving him while her resolution remained firm. "I had arranged with Mrs.

MacEdwin," she began, "if all went well--"

"Speak of yourself," he interposed. "Tell me if you are happy."

同类推荐
  • THE IMITATION OF CHRIST

    THE IMITATION OF CHRIST

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
  • 送韦十六评事充同谷

    送韦十六评事充同谷

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
  • 徐文长文集

    徐文长文集

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
  • 见闻琐录

    见闻琐录

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
  • 权谋

    权谋

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
热门推荐
  • 媛静

    媛静

    奈何桥边,谁苦苦哀求留下,又是谁为了再次见你一面,每日承受着灵魂撕裂之痛。再次见到你,人还是那个人,可心却不是那颗心了。那夜你大婚整个冥界欢庆,我以为我可以一直像这样远远的看着你过得好,可终究……孟婆常问我值得吗?没有值不值得,只有心甘情愿。
  • 冷月凄然似君心

    冷月凄然似君心

    他是她暗恋多年的姐夫,堂堂当朝三皇子;她一片痴心,终于与他修成正果;新婚之夜,百般缠绵,她将真心尽赋予他;却没想到,从头至尾,她只是他报夺妻之仇的一枚棋子;她的美梦原来是他精心布置的陷阱;为救族人,她进宫沦为皇上的玩物……多年后,他和她再度相遇,是她的福气还是灾难?
  • 誓不做小三

    誓不做小三

    安昕昕傻了,疯了,也怕了……如今的她看到谁都唯恐避之不及!她默默承受着好友的唾骂,苦苦拒绝着好友未婚夫的追求,四处躲避他的各种软硬兼施…安昕昕欲哭无泪,平生素来冷静的她,怎么会……
  • 王爷,请休了我!

    王爷,请休了我!

    被洪七公的徒孙洪九公,用‘周杰伦式’的穿越法,误把正在打抱不平的她,当成男子虏到了明代,还和她约法三章,只有她办成了他交代的事情,才把她送回去…当真是一个人倒霉,喝水都会塞牙,想她一个还在读书的黄毛丫头,却为了生计,不得不冒充王妃,王爷的老婆…好歹,工作也稳定了,事业也起步了,住的穿的吃的也不愁了…王爷,你就休了我吧,好让偶自由的在天空飞翔,在明代闯一番天下…斯人的文:《梦在阿诺》-----羞涩之作《金蛇醉心》-----感动之作《醉心异世界》-------用心之作请各位路过的大大,留下您珍贵的笔墨,投下你神圣的一票,用心的收藏在您的书架,以便你方便的阅读,谢谢!本故事纯属虚构,如有雷同,实属巧合!本故事纯属虚构,如有不足,敬请谅解!=======================================斯人建了一个群,喜欢《王爷,请休了》的朋友们可以加群:75529476验证码是斯人任何一篇文里的任何角色的名字!========================================推荐:好友淡淡的岚穿越之为什么总是我:推荐冥月死神的仙颜魅世:夏日情怀的文红色精灵之霉女美女:夜夜心的异世之旅(女尊):万俟艾的小受你别跑!:
  • 彼此

    彼此

    邹晓亮做梦都想留住自己的工作岗位,他做梦也想不到董震欧做梦都想放弃已工作了半年的岗位。至于冯峻,晚间做的什么梦,常常记不得,睁开双眼一准忘个一干二净,当然也有例外,那是噩梦。二黄是那种从梦中醒来能记一半梦境的人,就是说半截儿记得清清楚楚,另半截儿朦朦胧胧需要使劲儿想,或许能回忆起来,否则只能任之永远消失。比如说,二黄曾有天半夜醒来发现自个儿一脸泪水,循着梦朝回走,那泪从何而来?终于弄清楚后,把自个儿感动得又流半天泪。当然还有像冯晓霓黄毛丫头,晚上一般不做梦,头沾枕头便入眠,一觉醒来大天亮。
  • 一万种减肥方法

    一万种减肥方法

    医学博士权威验证,最科学、最安全、最有效,翻开本书,发现最适合您的减肥方法!
  • 假如生活欺骗了你

    假如生活欺骗了你

    酸甜苦辣咸,生活就是这样,让你哭,让你笑,让你痛,让你不断的成长!
  • 傻女在古代

    傻女在古代

    原创作者社团『未央』出品:<br/><br/>一女穿越,先是装傻,再携鸟走天涯!<br/><br/>美男必不可少,看女主玩转后宫!腾讯独家全版傻女续篇《九世鸳梦》增添部分!<br/><br/><br/>此外《男人是祸水》《京城四少》《穿越好事近》鬼恋完结文!&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;
  • 高冷女王进化论

    高冷女王进化论

    系统负责换地图,沐星负责学技能,睡醒之后,她的人生也跟着变了! 可是,每解锁一个新技能,总会跟某人有关!系统君,你的主人到底是谁?…… “星星,别看爸爸杀鱼……”沐世川心惊胆战放下刀,总觉得自家娇弱的闺女会随时扑上来,目标就是那条生鱼!“闺女,以后咱家做菜就靠你了!”不善厨艺的安少晴,越看闺女越顺眼。“老姐,你居然学霸了!!”双胞胎弟弟沐昱很悲催,学渣姐姐逆袭了,他也得拼命了!……
  • 鲙残篇

    鲙残篇

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。