Methinks,"
he added, "it is time that I should know who they are that have thus
highly honoured my ruined dwelling!" The young lady remained silent
and motionless, and the father, to whom the question was more directly
addressed, seemed in the situation of a performer who has ventured to
take upon himself a part which he finds himself unable to present,
and who comes to a pause when it is most to be expected that he should
speak. While he endeavoured to cover his embarrassment with the exterior
ceremonials of a well-bred demeanour, it was obvious that, in making his
bow, one foot shuffled forward, as if to advance, the other backward, as
if with the purpose of escape; and as he undid the cape of his coat, and
raised his beaver from his face, his fingers fumbled as if the one had
been linked with rusted iron, or the other had weighed equal with a
stone of lead. The darkness of the sky seemed to increase, as if to
supply the want of those mufflings which he laid aside with such evident
reluctance. The impatience of Ravenswood increased also in proportion to
the delay of the stranger, and he appeared to struggle under agitation,
though probably from a very different cause.
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