One of the great pleasures of Margaret's life at this time, was

in Edith's boy. He was the pride and plaything of both father and

mother, as long as he was good; but he had a strong will of his

own, and as soon as he burst out into one of his stormy passions,

Edith would throw herself back in despair and fatigue, and sigh

out, 'Oh dear, what shall I do with him! Do, Margaret, please

ring the bell for Hanley.' But Margaret almost liked him better in these manifestations of

character than in his good blue-sashed moods. She would carry him

off into a room, where they two alone battled it out; she with a

firm power which subdued him into peace, while every sudden charm

and wile she possessed, was exerted on the side of right, until

he would rub his little hot and tear-smeared face all over hers,

kissing and caressing till he often fell asleep in her arms or on

her shoulder. Those were Margaret's sweetest moments. They gave

her a taste of the feeling that she believed would be denied to

her for ever.

Mr. Henry Lennox added a new and not disagreeable element to the

course of the household life by his frequent presence. Margaret

thought him colder, if more brilliant than formerly; but there

were strong intellectual tastes, and much and varied knowledge,

which gave flavour to the otherwise rather insipid conversation.

Margaret saw glimpses in him of a slight contempt for his brother

and sister-in-law, and for their mode of life, which he seemed to

consider as frivolous and purposeless. He once or twice spoke to

his brother, in Margaret's presence, in a pretty sharp tone of

enquiry, as to whether he meant entirely to relinquish his

profession; and on Captain Lennox's reply, that he had quite

enough to live upon, she had seen Mr. Lennox's curl of the lip as

he said, 'And is that all you live for?' But the brothers were much attached to each other, in the way

that any two persons are, when the one is cleverer and always

leads the other, and this last is patiently content to be led.

Mr. Lennox was pushing on in his profession; cultivating, with

profound calculation, all those connections that might eventually

be of service to him; keen-sighted, far-seeing, intelligent,

sarcastic, and proud. Since the one long conversation relating to

Frederick's affairs, which she had with him the first evening in

Mr. Bell's presence, she had had no great intercourse with him,

further than that which arose out of their close relations with

the same household. But this was enough to wear off the shyness

on her side, and any symptoms of mortified pride and vanity on

his. They met continually, of course, but she thought that he

rather avoided being alone with her; she fancied that he, as well

as she, perceived that they had drifted strangely apart from

their former anchorage, side by side, in many of their opinions,

and all their tastes.




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