"
"Ah! that gunpowder trick of Mr. Arden's--I always hated it!"
exclaimed Betty.
"Gunpowder indeed!" growled the old soldier. "Well, if ever there's
mischief among the children, Harriet is always at the bottom of it.
I hope Mr. Belamour made her confess if she had a hand in it."
"I believe he did," said Sir Amyas.
"Just like her to set the match to the train and then run away," said
the Major.
"Still, sir," said Betty, her womanhood roused to defence, "though I am
angered and grieved enough that Harriet should have left Aurelia to face
the consequences of the act she instigated, I must confess that even by
Sir Amyas's own showing, if he will allow me to say so, my sisters were
justified in wishing to understand the truth."
"That is what my uncle tells me," said the baronet. "He declares that
if I had attended to his stipulations, restrained my fervour, or kept
my distance, there would have been neither suspicion nor alarm. As if
I had not restrained myself!"
"Ay, I dare say," said the Major, a little amused.
"Well, sir, what could a man do with most bewitching creature in the
world, his own wife, too, on the next chair to him?"
There was a simplicity about the stripling--for he was hardly more--
which forced them to forgive him; besides, they were touched by his
paleness and fatigue.
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