"Thank you, my dear," he said gravely; "but I can do very well without
pity. It's a kind of thing I'm not accustomed to. I am annoyed that
Clarissa should have acted in--in this ill-advised manner; but I have no
doubt matters will come right in a little time."
"Lovel--my brother is safe, papa?" inquired Sophia, clasping her hands.
"I have every reason to believe so. He is with his mother."
Miss Granger sighed profoundly, as much as to say, "He could not be in
worse hands."
"And I think, my dear," continued her father, "that the less you trouble
yourself about this business the bettor. Any interference on your part will
only annoy me, and may occasion unpleasantness between us. You will go back
to Arden, to-morrow, as I intended, with Warman, and one of the men to take
care of your luggage. The rest of the establishment will follow in a day or
so."
"And you, papa?"
"My plans are uncertain. I shall return to Arden as soon as I can."
"Dear old Arden!" exclaimed Sophia; "how I wish we had never left it! How
happy I was for the first four years of my life there!"
This apostrophe Mr. Granger perfectly understood--it meant that, with the
advent of Clarissa, happiness had fled away from Sophia's dwelling-place.
He did not trouble himself to notice the speech; but it made him angry
nevertheless.
"There is a letter for you, papa," said Miss Granger, pointing to a
side-table; "a letter which Warman found upstairs.
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