CHAPTER XXI
THE SECRET MEETING
As election affairs progressed, Mrs. Grier kept withdrawn from public
ways. She did not seek supporters for her son. As the weeks went on, the
strain became intense. Her eyes were aflame with excitement, but she grew
thinner, until at last she was like a ghost haunting familiar scenes.
Once, and once only, did she have touch with Barode Barouche since the
agitation began. This was how it happened:
Carnac was at Ottawa, and she was alone, in the late evening. As she sat
sewing, she heard a knock at the front door. Her heart stood still. It
was a knock she had not heard for over a quarter of a century, but it had
an unforgettable touch. She waited a moment, her face pale, her eyes
shining with tortured memory. She waited for the servant to answer the
knock, but presently she realized that the servant probably had not
heard. Laying down her work, she passed into the front hall. There for an
instant she paused, then opened the door.
It was Barode Barouche. Then the memory of a summer like a terrible dream
shook her. She trembled. Some old quiver of the dead days swept through
her. How distant and how--bad it all was! For one instant the old thrill
repeated itself and then was gone--for ever.
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