Читать книгу Sydney Lisle, the Heiress of St. Quentin онлайн

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And yet had ever a week gone so quickly?

The days seemed all too short for everything she wanted to do in them. In the end she had done little except follow mother round the house, from kitchen to larder, from larder to store-room, and from store-room to linen-cupboard. The idea of going round to say good-bye to all her friends had to be given up; after all, it was mother that she wanted most.

At night she and Dolly, who shared a room, used to hold to each other and cry; but in the daytime Sydney shed few tears. She was very quiet and wistful-eyed, but trustful of father’s judgment, only growing a little more silent as the days went on.

There came a letter from Lady Frederica Verney, Lord St. Quentin’s aunt, beginning, “Dear Miss Lisle,” which opening was in itself a shock, and asking Sydney if she would be ready to come to Castle St. Quentin on Tuesday next, under the escort of Mr. Fenton. A maid, whom Lady Frederica had engaged to wait upon her, would come up to town the day before, spend the night at an hotel, and meet Sydney at Waterloo in time for the two o’clock train down to Blankshire.