Sir William and
his son looked at Lady Ashton, who replied with the greatest composure,
"That Lucy would wait upon Mr. Hayston directly. I hope," she added with
a smile, "that as Lucy is very young, and has been lately trepanned into
an engagement of which she is now heartily ashamed, our dear Bucklaw
will excuse her wish that I should be present at their interview?"
"In truth, my dear lady," said Bucklaw, "it is the very thing that
I would have desired on my own account; for I have been so little
accustomed to what is called gallantry, that I shall certainly fall into
some cursed mistake unless I have the advantage of your ladyship as an
interpreter."
It was thus that Bucklaw, in the perturbation of his embarrassment upon
this critical occasion, forgot the just apprehensions he had entertained
of Lady Ashton's overbearing ascendency over her daughter's mind, and
lost an opportunity of ascertaining, by his own investigation, the real
state of Lucy's feelings.
The other gentlemen left the room, and in a shrot time Lady Ashton,
followed by her daughter, entered the apartment.
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