And Mabel and Ethel--noisy, merry little girls!--she had thought
of them so seldom in these latter years--they seemed as far-off shadows
now. But James Anderton and her mother stood out sharp and clear.
The strain and anguish of the day had left her very pale. Mrs. Anderton
thought her plain and most uncomfortably aloof; she really regretted
that she had put into her husband's head the idea of giving this
invitation. He would gladly have left Halcyone alone, but for her kindly
thought. Mabel was just seventeen, and such a handful that her father
had decided she should stay in the schoolroom with her sister for
another year, and Mrs. Anderton had felt it would be a good opportunity
for Halcyone to rejoin the family circle at a time when her presence, if
she proved good-looking, could not in any way interfere with her
stepsister's debut.
And here, instead of being overcome with gratitude and excitement, this
cold, quiet girl was taking it all as quite an ordinary circumstance. No
wonder she, Louisa Anderton, felt aggrieved.
They had hardly time for any more words, for Mrs.
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