* * * * *
CHAPTER XXVII.
IN THE SEASON.
In the spring Mr. Granger took his wife and daughter to London, where they
spent a couple of months in Clarges-street, and saw a good deal of society
in what may he called the upper range of middle-class life--rich merchants
and successful professional men living in fine houses at the West-end,
enlivened with a sprinkling from the ranks of the baronetage and lesser
nobility. In this circle Mr. Granger occupied rather a lofty standing, as
the owner of one of the finest estates in Yorkshire, and of a fortune which
the common love of the marvellous exalted into something fabulous. He found
himself more popular than ever since his marriage, as the husband of one of
the prettiest women who had appeared that season. So, during the two months
of their London life, there was an almost unbroken succession of gaieties,
and Mr. Granger found himself yearning for the repose of Arden Court
sometimes, as he waited in a crowded ball-room while his wife and daughter
danced their last quadrille. It pleased him that Clarissa should taste this
particular pleasure-cup--that she should have every delight she had a right
to expect as his wife; but it pleased him not the less when she frankly
confessed to him one day that this brilliant round of parties and
party-giving had very few charms for her, and that she would be glad to go
back to Arden.
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