small one, but treated by
her and her household as a far more natural occurrence than was any sort
of entertainment at the Homestead. She even looked surprised, in her
quiet way, at Mrs. Curtis's proffers of assistance in the et ceteras,
and gratefully answered for Coombe's doing the right thing, without
troubling herself further. Mrs. Curtis was less easy in her mind, her
housewifely soul questioned the efficiency of her niece's establishment,
and she was moreover persuaded that Lord Keith must be bent on
inspecting his brother's choice, while even Rachel felt as if the toils
of fate were being drawn round her, and let Grace embellish her for the
dinner party, in an odd sort of mood, sometimes rejecting her attempts
at decoration, sometimes vouchsafing a glance at the glass, chiefly
to judge whether her looks were really as repellently practical and
intellectual as she had been in the habit of supposing. The wreath of
white roses, which she wore for the first time, certainly had a pleasing
and softening effect, and she was conscious that she had never looked so
well; then was vexed at the solicitude with which her mother looked
her over, and fairly blushed with annoyance at the good lady's evident
satisfaction.

But, after all, Rachel, at her best, could not have competed with the
grace of the quiet little figure that received them, the rich black silk
giving dignity to the slender form, and a sort of compromise between
veil and cap sheltering the delicate fair face; and with a son on each
side, Fanny looked so touchingly proud and well supported, and the boys
were so exultant and admiring at seeing her thus dressed, that it was
a very pretty sight, and struck the first arrived of her guests, Mr.
Touchett, quite dumb with admiration. Colonel Hammond, the two Keiths,
and their young kinsman, completed the party. Lord Keith of Gowanbrae
was best described by the said young kinsman's words "a long-backed
Scotchman." He was so intensely Scottish that he made his brother look
and sound the same, whereas ordinarily neither air nor accent would have
shown the colonel's nation, and there was no definable likeness between
them, except, perhaps, the baldness of the forehead, but the remains
of Lord Keith's hair were silvered red, whereas Colin's thick beard
and scanty locks were dark brown, and with a far larger admixture of
hoar-frost, though he was the younger by twenty years, and his brother's
appearance gave the impression