She thus came home much later than had been expected; Jumbo, Molly,
and the little girls were all watching for her, and greeted her
eagerly. The supper was already on the table for her, and she had
only just given Fay and Letty the cakes and comfits she had bought
at Brentford for them when Jumbo brought the message that his master
hoped that madam, if not too much fatigued, would come to him as soon
as her supper was finished.
Accordingly, she came without waiting to change her dress, having
only taken off her hat and arranged her hair.
She felt guilty, and dreaded the being questioned, yet longed to make
her avowal and have all explained. The usual greetings passed, and
then Mr. Belamour said, "I heard your horse hoofs come in late. You
were detained?"
She explained about the shoe, and a few sentences were passing about
her sister when she detected a movement, as if a step were stealing
towards her, together with a hesitation in the remark Mr. Belamour
was making about Mrs. Hunter's good nature.
Quite irrelevantly came in the whispering voice, "Where is my dearest
life?"
"Sir, sir!" she cried, driven at last to bay, "what is this? Are you
one or two?"
"One with you, my sweetest life! Your own--your husband!"
Therewith there was a kind of groan further off, and as Aurelia felt
a hand on her dress, her fight and distress at the duality were
complete.
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