No doubt
the baron had come to announce the arrival of my mother and the rest,
and I hastened down to meet him at the door, full of delight, with my
son holding my hand.
My first exclamation after the greeting was to ask where they were,
and how soon they would arrive, and I was terribly disappointed when
I found that he had come alone, and that my mother, with Eustace and
Annora, were at the Hotel de Nidemerle, at Paris, without any
intention of leaving it. He himself had come down on business, as
indeed was only natural since he was joined with me in the
guardianship of my little Marquis, and he would likewise be in time
to enjoy the chase over the estates.
He said no more of his purpose then, so I was not alarmed; and he
seemed much struck with the growth and improvement of Gaspard. I had
much to hear of the three who were left to me of my own family. M.
de Solivet had never seen them before, and could hardly remember his
mother, so he could not compare them with what they were before their
troubles; but I gathered that my mother was well in health, and
little the worse for her troubles, and that my little Nan was as tall
as myself, a true White Ribaumont, with an exquisite complexion, who
would be all the rage if she were not so extremely English, more
English even than I had been when I had arrived.
'And my brother, my Eustace. Oh, why did he not come with you?' I
asked.
And M.
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