Veal, over which she gloated in a dreamy state;
Aurelia's study was a dark-covered, pale-lettered copy of the _Ikon
Basilike_, with the strange attraction that youth has to pain and
sorrow, and sat musing over the resigned outpourings of the perplexed
and persecuted king, with her bright eyes fixed on the deep blue sky,
and the honeysuckle blossoms gently waving against it, now and then
visited by bee or butterfly, while through the silence came the
throbbing notes of the nightingale, followed by its jubilant burst
of glee, and the sweet distant chime of the cathedral bells rose and
fell upon the wind. What peace and repose there was in all the air,
even in the gentle breeze, and the floating motions of the swallows
skimming past.
The stillness was first broken by the jangle of their own little church
bell, for Mr. Arden was a more than usually diligent minister, and
always gave two services when he was not in course at the cathedral.
The young ladies always attended both, but as Harriet and Aurelia
crossed the lawn, their brother ran to meet them, saying, "We are
not to wait for sister."
"I hope my papa is well," said Aurelia.
"Oh yes," said Eugene, "but the man in the gold-laced hat has been
speaking with him. Palmer says it is Mrs. Dove's husband, and he is
going to take Lively Tom and Brown Bet and the two other colts to
London.
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