Oppressed
with loss and pain, her heart beat slowly, as though it were weary of
living. Until daybreak she wondered if he, too, was keeping the night
watch, from a wholly different point of view.
But, man-like, Allison had long ago gone to sleep, in the big Colonial
house beyond the turn in the road, idly humming to himself:
Come and kiss me, Sweet-and-Twenty;
Youth's a stuff will not endure!
XI
KEEPING THE FAITH
Colonel Kent and Allison critically surveyed the table, where covers
were laid for seven. "Someway it lacks the 'grand air' of Madame
Bernard's," commented the Colonel, "yet I can't see anything wrong, can
you?"
"Not a thing," Allison returned. "The 'grand air' you allude to comes, I
think, from Aunt Francesca herself. When she takes her place opposite
you, I'm sure we shall compare very favourably with our neighbours."
The Crosby twins arrived first, having chartered the station hack for
the evening. As the minds of both were above such minor details as
clothes, their attire was of the nondescript variety, but their
exuberant youth and high spirits gallantly concealed all defects and the
tact of their hosts quickly set them both at their ease.
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