The heat had tried the
child, and Lady Kitty--he looked round the nursery for her in some
perplexity--might be quite reassured.
Margaret found her, wandering in the park--very wild and pale--told her
the doctor's verdict, and brought her home. Kitty said little or
nothing, and was presently persuaded to change her dress for Lord
Parham's arrival. By the time the operation was over she was full as
usual of smiles and chatter, with no trace apparently of the mood which
had gone before.
Lord Parham found the house-party assembled on the lawn, with Kitty in a
three-cornered hat, fantastically garnished at the side with a great
plume of white cock's feathers, presiding at the tea-table.
"Ah!" thought the Premier, as he approached--"now for the tare in Ashe's
wheat!"
Nothing, however, could have been more gracious than Kitty's reception
of him, or more effusive than his response. He took his seat beside her,
a solid and impressive figure, no less closely observed by such of the
habitual guests of the political country-houses as happened to be
present, than by the sprinkling of local clergy and country neighbors to
whom Kitty was giving tea.
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