Brownlow on
important business, they were taken up-stairs to an ante-room.
They were three-—Mr. Wakefield and Mr. Gould, and, to the great
discontentment of the former, Mrs. Gould likewise. Fain would he
have shaken her off; but as she truly said, who could deprive her of
her rights as kinswoman, and wife to the young lady's guardian?
After they had waited a few moments in the somewhat dingy
surroundings of a house seldom used by its proper owners, Elvira
entered in plumed hat and habit, a slender and exquisite little
figure, but with a haughty twitch in her slim waist, superb
indifference in the air of her little head, and a grasp of her coral-
handled whip as if it were a defensive weapon, when Lisette flew up
to offer an embrace with—-
"Joy, joy, my dear child! Remember, I was the first to give you a
hint."
"Good morning," said Elvira, with a little bend of her head,
presenting to each the shapely tip of a gauntleted hand, but ignoring
her uncle and aunt as far as was possible. "Is there anything that
need detain me, Mr. Wakefield? I am just going out with Miss Evelyn
and Lord Fordham, and I cannot keep them waiting."
"Ah! it is you that will have to be waited for now, my sweet one,"
began Mrs. Gould.
"Here is a note from Mrs.
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