Marion had stood apart, with her eyes fixed upon the ground; but,
this warning being given, her young lover brought her tenderly to
where her sister stood, and gave her into her embrace.
'I have been telling Grace, dear Marion,' he said, 'that you are
her charge; my precious trust at parting. And when I come back and
reclaim you, dearest, and the bright prospect of our married life
lies stretched before us, it shall be one of our chief pleasures to
consult how we can make Grace happy; how we can anticipate her
wishes; how we can show our gratitude and love to her; how we can
return her something of the debt she will have heaped upon us.'
The younger sister had one hand in his; the other rested on her
sister's neck. She looked into that sister's eyes, so calm,
serene, and cheerful, with a gaze in which affection, admiration,
sorrow, wonder, almost veneration, were blended. She looked into
that sister's face, as if it were the face of some bright angel.
Calm, serene, and cheerful, the face looked back on her and on her
lover.
'And when the time comes, as it must one day,' said Alfred, - 'I
wonder it has never come yet, but Grace knows best, for Grace is
always right - when SHE will want a friend to open her whole heart
to, and to be to her something of what she has been to us - then,
Marion, how faithful we will prove, and what delight to us to know
that she, our dear good sister, loves and is loved again, as we
would have her!'
Still the younger sister looked into her eyes, and turned not -
even towards him.
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