He tried Laura. Laura, though sincerely
sorry for poor little Peter's death, was very sentimental; told
Valentine, to his surprise, that it was mainly on her account they had
wintered on the Continent, and with downcast eyes and mysterious
confusion that made him tremble, at first utterly declined to tell him
the reason.
When he found, therefore, that Mrs. Melcombe did not care at present to
return to England, and was far better able than he was to arrange her
journey when she did, he might have come home at once, but for this
mystery of Laura's. And when, after cultivating his intimacy with her
for nearly a month, he at last found out, beyond a doubt, that it
related to a love affair which Amelia had not approved of, he felt as if
everything he approached, concerning the matter of his father's letter,
melted into nothingness at his touch.
He acknowledged to himself that he should have been deeply disappointed
if he had discovered anything to justify this letter; and when the full,
low sunlight shone upon his large comfortable old house, glorified the
blossoming orchard and set off the darkness of the ancient yews, he felt
a touch of that sensation, which some people think is not fancy only.
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