But I really wanted to see you."
"You were not at the luncheon, were you?" asked Clarissa, feeling that she
must say something, and not knowing what to say.
"No; I have only been here half-an-hour or so. I hunted for you amongst
that gaping crowd by the river, and then began a circuit of the grounds. I
have been lucky enough to find you without going very far. I have some news
for you, Mrs. Granger."
"News for me?"
"Yes; about your brother--about Mr. Austin Lovel."
That name banished every other thought. She turned to the speaker eagerly.
"News of him--of my dear Austin? O, thank you a thousand times, Mr.
Fairfax! Have you heard where he is, and what he is doing? Pray, pray tell
me quickly!" she said, tremulous with excitement.
"I have done more than that: I have seen him."
"In England--in London?" cried Clarissa, making a little movement as if she
would have gone that moment to find him.
"No, not in England. Pray take things quietly, my dear Mrs. Granger. I have
a good deal to tell you, if you will only listen calmly."
"Tell me first that my brother is well--and happy, and then I will listen
patiently to everything."
"I think I may venture to say that he is tolerably well; but his happiness
is a fact I cannot vouch for. If he does find himself in a condition so
unusual to mankind, he is a very lucky fellow. I never met a man yet who
owned to being happy; and my own experience of life has afforded me only
some few brief hours of perfect happiness.
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