No, this gladdened rather than
startled Aurelia, though her heart sank within her when she was
warned that Mr. Wayland had been taken by the corsairs, so that my
Lady would have the ball at her own foot now. The term of waiting
seemed indefinitely prolonged.
The confinement to the dingy house and courtyard was trying to all
three, who had been used to run about in the green park and breezy
fields; but Aurelia did her best to keep her little companions happy
and busy, and the sense of the insecurity of her tenure of their
company aided her the more to meet with good temper and sweetness
the various rubs incidental to their captivity in this close warm
house in the hottest of summer weather. The pang she had felt at
her own fretfulness, when she thought she had lost them, made her
guard the more against giving way to impatience if they were
troublesome or hard to please. Indeed, she was much more gentle
and equable now, in the strength of her resolution, than she had
been when uplifted by her position, yet doubtful of its mysteries.
Sundays were the most trying time. The lack of occupation in the
small space was wearisome, and Aurelia's heart often echoed the old
strains of Tate and Brady,
I sigh whene'er my musing thoughts
Those happy days present,
When I with troops of pious friends
Thy temple did frequent.
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