' said Mrs. Edmonstone; 'and
happening to meet him in London some little time after his marriage,
he--he was pleased with the manner in which he was behaving then,
thought--thought--' And here, recollecting that she must not speak ill
of old Sir Guy, nor palliate his son's conduct, poor Mrs. Edmonstone
got into an inextricable confusion--all the worse because the fierce
twisting of a penwiper in Guy's fingers denoted that he was suffering a
great trial of patience. She avoided the difficulty thus: 'It is hard
to speak of such things when there is so much to be regretted on both
sides; but the fact was, my brother thought your father was harshly
dealt with at that time. Of course he had done very wrong; but he had
been so much neglected and left to himself, that it seemed hardly
fair to visit his offence on him as severely as if he had had more
advantages. So it ended in their coming to spend a day or two at
Stylehurst; and this is the letter my sister-in-law wrote at the time:

'"Our visitors have just left us, and on the whole I am much better
pleased than I expected. The little Mrs. Morville is a very pretty
creature, and as engaging as long flaxen curls, apple-blossom
complexion, blue eyes, and the sweetest of voices can make her; so
full of childish glee and playfulness, that no one would stop to think
whether she was lady-like any more than you would with a child. She
used to go singing like a bird about the house as soon as the first
strangeness wore off, which was after her first game of play with Fanny
and Little Philip. She made them very fond of her, as indeed she would
make every one who spent a day or two in the same house with her. I
could almost defy Sir Guy not to be reconciled after one sight of
her sweet sunny face. She is all affection and gentleness, and with
tolerable training anything might be made of her; but she is so young
in mind and manners, that one cannot even think of blaming her for her
elopement, for she had no mother, no education but in music; and her
brother seems to have forced it on, thrown her in Mr. Morville's way,
and worked on his excitable temperament, until he hurried them into
marriage. Poor little girl, I suppose she little guesses what she has
done; but it was very pleasant to see how devotedly attached he seemed
to her; and there was something beautiful in the softening of his
impetuous tones when he said, 'Marianne;' and her pride in him was very
pretty, like a child playin