what they meant; their words conveyed a
slight shock of surprise, but no distinct idea to him; and when Janey,
too much impressed to settle down again, went away after a while
musingly, carrying her work in the upper skirt of her gown, held like a
market-woman's apron by her elbow against her side; and he found himself
to have attained in the very confusion of his intentions to what he
wished, i.e., an interview with Ursula by herself, he was almost too
much agitated to take advantage of it. As for Ursula, she had floated a
hundred miles away from that sensation of last night which, had no
stronger feeling come in to bewilder her, would have made his errand
very plain to her mind. She had ceased to think about him, she was
thinking with a certain tenderness, and wondering, half-awed,
half-amused, self-questioning, about her father. Was he so good as this?
had he done this Christian action? were they all perhaps doing papa
injustice? She was recalled to herself by Northcote's next proceeding.
He went to the door and closed it after Janey, who had left it open, of
course, and then he came to the back of the chair on which stood the
great basket of darning. His voice was tremulous, his eyes liquid and
shining with emotion.

"Will you forgive me, since they have forgiven me? and may I ask _you_
something?" he said.

CHAPTER XXXIV.

AN EXTRAVAGANCE.

Mr. May did not take any particular notice of what was going on around
him among the young people. Nobody could have been more startled than
he, had he been told of the purpose with which Horace Northcote, the
Dissenting minister, had paid his early morning visit; and though he had
a half-scornful, half-amused glimmer of insight into the feelings of his
son, and saw that Clarence Copperhead was heavily veering the same way,
it did not occur to him that any crisis was approaching. He was enjoying
himself in his way, and he had not done that for a long time. He dearly
liked the better way of living, the more liberal strain of housekeeping
and expenditure; he liked the social meetings in the evening, the talk
after dinner with the three young men, the half-fatherly flirtation with
Phoebe, which she too enjoyed much, avowedly preferring him, with pretty
coquetry, to the others. All this was very pleasant to him; and the
additional money in his pocket was very pleasant, and when the post came
in, one of these April mornings, and brought a letter from James,
enclosing a