It is a Year since we parted, and I cannot tell you how
I long to clasp my beloved Sister in my Arms."
Harriet could not long more for such a meeting than did Aurelia, and
there was, it must be owned, a little relief, that it was Harriet, and
not the severer judge, Betty, who thus awaited her. She could hardly
brook the delay until the evening, and even wondered whether it were
not a wife's privilege to anticipate the hour; but she did not venture,
and only hovered about impatient for Jumbo's summons. She came in with
a rapid movement that led Mr. Belamour to say, "Ha, my fair visitor, I
perceive that you have some tidings to bring to-day."
Everything was rapidly poured out, and she anxiously awaited the
decision. She had little hope of being allowed to go to Gracechurch
Street, and did not press for it; but she could not refrain from
showing her earnest desire for the sight of her sister, so that it
was plain that it would have been a cruel disappointment to her, if
she had been prevented from meeting the newly-married couple. She
detected a certain sound of annoyance or perplexity in the tones
that replied, and her accents became almost plaintively imploring
as she concluded, "Pray, pray, sir, do not deny me."
"No, my child, I could not be cruel enough for a refusal," he
answered; "I was but considering how most safely the thing may be
contrived.
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