I
always used to be glad that we had no brothers, because our cousins
were not always pleasant with us; but now I have learnt what
valuable possessions they are,' she added, with the sweetest,
prettiest glance of her bright eyes.
I ventured to say that I was glad she said they, and hoped it was a
sign that she was finding out Clarence.
'I have found out that I behaved so ill to him that I have been
ashamed ever since to look at him or speak to him,' said Ellen; 'I
long to ask his pardon, but I believe that would distress him more
than anything.'
In which she was right; and I was able to tell her of the excuses
there had been for the poor boy, how he had suffered, and how he had
striven to conquer his failings; and she replied that the words
'Judge not, that ye be not judged,' always smote her with the
remembrance of her disdainfully cantering past him. There was a
tear on her eye-lashes, and it drew from me an apology for having
brought a painful recollection into our bright day.
'There must be shade to throw up the lights,' she said, with her
sparkling look.
Was it shade that we never fell into one of these grave talks when
Griffith was present, and that the slightest approach to them was
sure to be turned by him into jest?
We made our journey a little longer than we intended, crossing the
moors so as to spend a Sunday at Exeter; but Frank Fordyce left us,
not liking to give his father the entire duty of a third Sunday.
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