I have at least a dozen sketches of it done by him. But I did not
know you were in Yorkshire, Mr. Fairfax."
She wondered whether he was staying at Hale; and then it flashed upon her
that there had been a reconciliation between him and Lady Geraldine.
"I have not been long in Yorkshire. I am merely here _en passant_, in
short. My only excuse for approaching you lies in the fact that I have come
to talk to you about your brother."
"About Austin!" exclaimed Clarissa, with a look of alarm. "There is nothing
wrong--he is well, I hope?"
"Pray don't alarm yourself. Yes, he is tolerably well, I believe; and there
is nothing wrong--nothing that need cause you any immediate concern at
least. I am going to Paris, and I thought you might be glad to send some
message."
"You are very kind to think of that; yes, I shall be glad to send to him.
He is not a good correspondent, and I get very anxious about him sometimes.
What you said just now seemed to imply that there was something wrong. Pray
be candid with me, Mr. Fairfax."
He did not answer her immediately; in fact, for the moment he scarcely was
conscious of her words. He was looking at the beautiful face--looking at it
with a repressed passion that was deeper and more real than any he had ever
felt in his life. His thoughts wandered away from Austin Level. He was
thinking what he would have given, what peril he would have dared, to call
this woman his own.
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