She came down to breakfast, but she ate nothing, and hardly uttered a
word.
After breakfast she wandered listlessly from room to room--then suddenly
roused herself, and opened the piano. The music she selected to play was
of the most scandalously profane sort, associated with performances on
the stage which it curdles one's blood to think of. It would have been
premature to interfere with her at such a time as this. I privately
ascertained the hour at which Mr. Godfrey Ablewhite was expected, and
then I escaped the music by leaving the house.
Being out alone, I took the opportunity of calling upon my two resident
friends. It was an indescribable luxury to find myself indulging in
earnest conversation with serious persons. Infinitely encouraged and
refreshed, I turned my steps back again to the house, in excellent time
to await the arrival of our expected visitor. I entered the dining-room,
always empty at that hour of the day, and found myself face to face with
Mr. Godfrey Ablewhite!
He made no attempt to fly the place. Quite the contrary. He advanced to
meet me with the utmost eagerness.
"Dear Miss Clack, I have been only waiting to see you! Chance set me
free of my London engagements to-day sooner than I had expected, and I
have got here, in consequence, earlier than my appointed time."
Not the slightest embarrassment encumbered his explanation, though this
was his first meeting with me after the scene in Montagu Square. He was
not aware, it is true, of my having been a witness of that scene. But
he knew, on the other hand, that my attendances at the Mothers'
Small-Clothes, and my relations with friends attached to other
charities, must have informed me of his shameless neglect of his Ladies
and of his Poor. And yet there he was before me, in full possession of
his charming voice and his irresistible smile!
"Have you seen Rachel yet?" I asked.
He sighed gently, and took me by the hand. I should certainly have
snatched my hand away, if the manner in which he gave his answer had not
paralysed me with astonishment.
"I have seen Rachel," he said with perfect tranquillity. "You are aware,
dear friend, that she was engaged to me? Well, she has taken a sudden
resolution to break the engagement. Reflection has convinced her that
she will best consult her welfare and mine by retracting a rash promise,
and leaving me free to make some happier choice elsewhere. That is the
only reason she will give, and the only answer she will make to every
question that I can ask of her."
"What have you done on your side?" I inquired. "Have you submitted."
"Yes," he said with the most unruffled composure, "I have submitted."
His conduct, under the circumstances, was so utterly inconceivable, that
I stood bewildered with my hand in his. It is a piece of rudeness
to stare at anybody, and it is an act of indelicacy to stare at a
gentleman. I committed both those improprieties. And I said, as if in a
dream, "What does it mean?"