Wilkins in the
evening, as Ellinor knew; but she was not quite aware of the reason for
such late visits, and had never put together the two facts--(as cause and
consequence)--that on such occasions her father had been absent from the
office all day, and that there might be necessary business for him to
transact, the urgency of which was the motive for Mr. Dunster's visits.
Mr. Wilkins always seemed to be annoyed by his coming at so late an hour,
and spoke of it, resenting the intrusion upon his leisure; and Ellinor,
without consideration, adopted her father's mode of speaking and thinking
on the subject, and was rather more angry than he was whenever the
obnoxious partner came on business in the evening. This night was, of
all nights, the most ill-purposed time (so Ellinor thought) for a _tete-a-
tete_ with her father! However, there was no doubt in her mind as to
what she had to do. So late as it was, the unwelcome visitor could not
stop long; and then she would go down and have her little confidence with
her father, and beg him to see Mr. Livingstone when he came next morning,
and dismiss him as gently as might be.
She sat on in the window-seat; dreaming waking dreams of future
happiness. She kept losing herself in such thoughts, and became almost
afraid of forgetting why she sat there. Presently she felt cold, and got
up to fetch a shawl, in which she muffled herself and resumed her place.
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