"
It was resolved between these two wise ones that nothing at the present
should be said to Lucy or to any one of the family. They would wait
awhile, and in the meantime they attempted, as far as it was possible to
make the attempt without express words, to let Lucy understand that she
might remain at Fawn Court if she pleased. While this was going on, Lord
Fawn did come down once again, and on that occasion Lucy simply absented
herself from the dinner-table and from the family circle for that evening.
"He's coming in, and you've got to go to prison again," Nina said to her,
with a kiss.
The matter to which Mrs. Hittaway's letter more specially alluded was
debated between the mother and daughter at great length. They, indeed,
were less brave and less energetic than was the married daughter of the
family; but as they saw Lord Fawn more frequently, they knew better than
Mrs. Hittaway the real state of the case. They felt sure that he was
already sufficiently embittered against Lady Eustace, and thought that
therefore the peculiarly unpleasant task assigned to Lady Fawn need not be
performed. Lady Fawn had not the advantage of living so much in the world
as her daughter, and was oppressed by, perhaps, a squeamish delicacy.
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