MRS. BROWNING.
The shock had been great. Margaret fell into a state of prostration,which did not show itself in sobs and tears, or even find the relief ofwords. She lay on the sofa, with her eyes shut, never speaking but whenspoken to, and then replying in whispers. Mr. Bell was perplexed. Hedared not leave her; he dared not ask her to accompany him back toOxford, which had been one of the plans he had formed on the journeyto Milton, her physical exhaustion was evidently too complete for her toundertake any such fatigue--putting the sight that she would have toencounter out of the question. Mr. Bell sate over the fire, consideringwhat he had better do. Margaret lay motionless, and almost breathlessby him. He would not leave her, even for the dinner which Dixon had
prepared for him down-stairs, and, with sobbing hospitality, would fainhave tempted him to eat. He had a plateful of something brought up tohim. In general, he was particular and dainty enough, and knew welleach shade of flavour in his food, but now the devilled chicken tastedlike sawdust. He minced up some of the fowl for Margaret, andpeppered and salted it well; but when Dixon, following his directions,tried to feed her, the languid shake of head proved that in such a state asMargaret was in, food would only choke, not nourish her.
Mr. Bell gave a great sigh; lifted up his stout old limbs (stiff withtravelling) from their easy position, and followed Dixon out of theroom.
\"I can\"t leave her. I must write to them at Oxford, to see that thepreparations are made: they can he getting on with these till I arrive.
Can\"t Mrs. Lennox come to her? I\"ll write and tell her she must. The girlmust have some woman-friend about her, if only to talk her into a goodfit of crying.\"
Dixon was crying--enough for two; but, after wiping her eyes andsteadying her voice, she managed to tell Mr. Bell, that Mrs. Lennox wastoo near her confinement to be able to undertake any journey at present.
\"Well! I suppose we must have Mrs. Shaw; she\"s come back to England,isn\"t she?\"
\"Yes, sir, she\"s come back; but I don\"t think she will like to leave Mrs.
Lennox at such an interesting time,\" said Dixon, who did not muchapprove of a stranger entering the household, to share with her in herruling care of Margaret.
\"Interesting time be--\" Mr. Bell restricted himself to coughing over theend of his sentence. \"She could be content to he at Venice or Naples, orsome of those Popish places, at the last \"interesting time,\" which tookplace in Corfu, I think. And what does that little prosperous woman\"s\"interesting time\" signify, in comparison with that poor creature there,-thathelpless, homeless, friendless Margaret--lying as still on that sofaas if it were an altar-tomb, and she the stone statue on it. I tell you, Mrs.
Shaw shall come. See that a room, or whatever she wants, is got readyfor her by to-morrow night. I\"ll take care she comes.\"
Accordingly Mr. Bell wrote a letter, which Mrs. Shaw declared, withmany tears, to he so like one of the dear general\"s when he was going tohave a fit of the gout, that she should always value and preserve it. If hehad given her the option, by requesting or urging her, as if a refusalwere possible, she might not have come--true and sincere as was hersympathy with Margaret. It needed the sharp uncourteous command tomake her conquer her vis inertiae, and allow herself to be packed by hermaid, after the latter had completed the boxes. Edith, all cap, shawls,and tears, came out to the top of the stairs, as Captain Lennox was
taking her mother down to the carriage:
\"Don\"t forget, mamma; Margaret must come and live with us. Sholtowill go to Oxford on Wednesday, and you must send word by Mr. Bellto him when we\"re to expect you. And if you want Sholto, he can go onfrom Oxford to Milton. Don\"t forget, mamma; you are to bring backMargaret.\"
Edith re-entered the drawing-room. Mr. Henry Lennox was there,cutting open the pages of a new Review. Without lifting his head, hesaid, \"If you don\"t like Sholto to be so long absent from you, Edith, Ihope you will let me go down to Milton, and give what assistance I can.\"
\"Oh, thank you,\" said Edith, \"I dare say old Mr. Bell will do everythinghe can, and more help may not be needed. Only one does not look formuch savoir-faire from a resident Fellow. Dear, darling Margaret! won\"tit be nice to have her here, again? You were both great allies, yearsago.\"
\"Were we?\" asked he indifferently, with an appearance of beinginterested in a passage in the Review.
\"Well, perhaps not--I forget. I was so full of Sholto. But doesn\"t it fallout well, that if my uncle was to die, it should be just now, when we arecome home, and settled in the old house, and quite ready to receiveMargaret? Poor thing! what a change it will be to her from Milton! I\"llhave new chintz for her bedroom, and make it look new and bright, andcheer her up a little.\"
In the same spirit of kindness, Mrs. Shaw journeyed to Milton,occasionally dreading the first meeting, and wondering how it would begot over; but more frequently planning how soon she could getMargaret away from \"that horrid place,\" and back into the pleasantcomforts of Harley Street.
\"Oh dear!\" she said to her maid; \"look at those chimneys! My poor sisterHale! I don\"t think I could have rested at Naples, if I had known what itwas! I must have come and fetched her and Margaret away.\" And toherself she acknowledged, that she had always thought her brother-inlawrather a weak man, but never so weak as now, when she saw forwhat a place he had exchanged the lovely Helstone home.