Then came her niece, cold and stately, with steady eye and a slight
flush, and altogether the air of the conscientious young matron who has
returned from the nursery, having there administered the discipline; and
so she sat down beside her aunt, serene and silent, and, the little glow
passed away, pale and still.
'Well, he _has_ spoken?' said her aunt to her, in a sharp aside.
'Yes,' answered the young lady, icily.
'And has had his answer?'
'Yes--and I beg, Aunt Rebecca, the subject may be allowed to drop.' The
young lady's eyes encountered her aunt's so directly and were so fully
charged with the genuine Chattesworth lightning, that Miss Rebecca,
unused to such demonstrations, averted hers, and with a slight sarcastic
inclination, and, 'Oh! your servant, young lady,' beckoning with her fan
grandly to little Puddock, who was hovering with other designs in the
vicinity, and taking his arm, though he was not forgiven, but only
employed--a distinction often made by good Queen Elizabeth--marched to
the marquee, where, it was soon evident, the plump lieutenant was busy
in commending, according to their merits, the best bits of the best
_plats_ on the table.
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