She became quite merry over her little plots; but
there was a weight as of lead on my heart when I thought of my
brother, and that her freedom had only begun on such terms. Nay, I
knew not for what to hope or wish!
Permission had been given for Emilia to return to her mother, and as
Veronica had some purchases to make in the city, she undertook to
drive in in the coach, and bring out her little sister. I should
have availed myself of the opportunity of going back with her but
that Millicent would have had to spend the day alone, and I could see
that, though her mother's heart hungered for the little one, yet she
dreaded the child's seeing her altered face. She said she hoped
Veronica might not return till twilight or dusk, so that Emilia might
recognize her by her voice and her kisses before seeing her face.
She had been bidden to be out in the air, and she and I had walked
down the avenue in search of some cukoo-flowers and king-cups that
grew by the canal below. She loved them, she said, because they grew
at home by the banks of the Thames, and she was going to dress some
beaupots to make her chamber gay for Emilia. The gardens might be
her own, but she stood in too much awe of the gardener to touch a
tulip or a flower-de-luce, scarce even a lily of the valley; but when
I taxed her with it, she smiled and said she should ever love the
English wild-flowers best.
So we were walking back under the shade of the budding lime-tress
when a coach came rolling behind us.
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