But that gives me no authority. If he does mean to marry
the girl he must go to her father; or it is possible that he might
come to me. But if he does not mean it, what can I do?" He
promised, however, that he would think of it.
It was still dark night, or the morning was dark as night, when
Arabella got out of bed and opened her window. The coming of a
frost now might ruin her. The absence of it might give her
everything in life that she wanted. Lord Rufford had promised her a
tedious communication through servants as to the state of the
weather. She was far too energetic, far too much in earnest, to
wait for that. She opened the window and putting out her hand she
felt a drizzle of rain. And the air, though the damp from it seemed
to chill her all through, was not a frosty air. She stood there a
minute so as to be sure and then retreated to her bed.
Fortune was again favouring her;--but then how would it be if it
should turn to hard rain? In that case Lady Chiltern and the other
ladies certainly would not go, and how in such case should she get
herself conveyed to the meet? She would at any rate go down in her
hat and habit and trust that somebody would provide for her. There
might be much that would be disagreeable and difficult, but hardly
anything could be worse than the necessity of telling such lies as
those which she had fabricated on the previous afternoon.
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