" And, after
all, I could not help thinking that it was better perhaps that Griff
did not come. Any other sort of talk would have jarred on her just
now, and you know he would never stand much of that.'
Much as we loved our Griff, we had come to the perception that Ellen
was a treasure he could not esteem properly.
The Lester cousins, never remarkable for good taste, forced on her
the knowledge of his employment. Her father could not refrain from
telling us that her exclamation had been, 'Poor Griff, how shocked
he must be! He was so fond of dear grandpapa. Pray, papa, get Mr.
Winslow to let him know that I am not hurt, for I know he could not
help it. Or may I ask Emily to tell him so?'
I wish Mrs. Fordyce would have absolved her from the promise not to
mention Griff to us. That innocent reliance might have touched him,
as Emily would have narrated it; but it only rendered my father more
indignant, and more resolved to reserve the message till a repentant
apology should come. And, alas! none ever came. Just wrath on a
voiceless paper has little effect. There is reason to believe that
Griff did not like the air of my father's letter, and never even
read it. He diligently avoided Clarence, and the pain and shame his
warm heart must have felt only made him keep out of reach.
CHAPTER XXXI--FACILIS DESCENSUS
'The slippery verge her feet beguiled;
She tumbled headlong in.
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