Could it be wrong to
spend part of her visit to Lady Susan with her hostess in a
sisterhood, when she had no doubt as to attending services which he
absolutely never dreamt of, and therefore did not forbid? The
sacred atmosphere and holy meditations, without external strife and
constant watchfulness, seemed to the poor girl like water to the
thirsty; and she thought, after all the harass and whirl of the
bazaar and race week, she might thus recruit her much-needed
strength for the decisive conflicts her majority would bring.
Lady Susan had no doubts. The 'grand old wreck' was in his present
aspect a hoary old persecutor, and charming Lady Tyrrell a worldly,
scheming elder sister. It was as much an act of charity to give
their victim an opportunity of devotion and support as if she had
been the child of abandoned parents in a back court in East London.
Reserve to prevent a prohibition was not in such cases treachery or
disobedience; and she felt herself doing a mother's part, as she
told her daughters, with some enjoyment of the mystery. Eleonora
made no promise, hoping to clear her mind by consideration, or to
get Julius's opinion.
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