At other times he busied himself about arranging, and countermanding, and
then again arranging, the preparations which he judged necessary for the
reception of the Marquis of A----, whose arrival had been twice delayed
by some necessary cause of detention.
In the midst of all these various avocations, political and domestic,
he seemed not to observe how much his daughter and his guest were thrown
into each other's society, and was censured by many of his neighbours,
according to the fashion of neighbours in all countries, for suffering
such an intimate connexion to take place betwixt two young persons.
The only natural explanation was, that he designed them for each other;
while, in truth, his only motive was to temporise and procrastinate
until he should discover the real extent of the interest which the
Marquis took in Ravenswood's affairs, and the power which he was likely
to possess of advancing them. Until these points should be made both
clear and manifest, the Lord Keeper resolved that he would do nothing
to commit himself, either in one shape or other; and, like many cunning
persons, he overreached himself deplorably.
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