Perhaps she would be homesick, he said, so wistfully that it
was plain that he did not know how to exist without his darling; but
he was charmed with the invitation, and Caroline was pleased to see
that he did not regard her as his grandchild's rival, but as
representing the cherished playmate of his youth.
CHAPTER XIII. THE RIVAL HEIRESSES.
You smile, their eager ways to see,
But mark their choice when they
To choose their sportive garb are free,
The moral of their play.
Keble.
One curious part of the reticence of youth is that which relates to
its comprehension of grown-up affairs. There is a smile with which
the elders greet any question on the subject, half of wonder, half of
amusement, which is perfectly intolerable to the young, who remain
thinking that they are regarded as presumptuous and absurd, and thus
will do anything rather than expose themselves to it again.
Thus it was that Mrs. Brownlow flattered herself that her children
never put two and two together when she let them know of the
discovery of their relationship. Partly she judged by herself. She
was never in the habit of forecasting, and for so clever and spirited
a woman, she thought wonderfully little. She had plenty of intuitive
sense, decided rapidly and clearly, and could easily throw herself in
other people's thoughts, but she seldom reflected, analysed or
moralised, save on the spur of the moment.
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