"
"And you, Phyllis?"
"I know it."
How wonderfully certain moods of nature seem to frame certain states
of mind. Elizabeth never forgot the still serenity of that September
evening; the rustling of the falling leaves under their feet, the
gleaming of the blue and white asters through the misty haze gathering
over the fields and park. They had expected to meet the squire at the
gates, but they were nearly at home ere they saw him. He was evidently
in deep trouble; even Fanny divined it, and, with singular canine
delicacy, walked a little behind him, and forebore all her usual
demonstrations.
Antony was sitting at the hall fire. His handsome person was
faultlessly dressed, and, with a newspaper laid over his knee, he was
apparently lost in the contemplation of the singular effects made by
the firelight among the antlers and armor that adorned the wall. He
roused himself when the girls entered, and apologized for not having
come to meet them; but there was an evident constraint and unhappiness
in the home atmosphere. Even the "bit o' good eating," which was the
squire's panacea, failed in his own case. Antony, indeed, sat and
laughed and chatted with an easy indifference, which finally appeared
to be unbearable to his father, for he left the table before the meal
was finished.
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