Crisparkle in regard of Rosa, though
as a part of the interest of the case it was well known far and
wide. He was Helena's unfortunate brother, to her, and nothing
more. The assurance she had given her odious suitor was strictly
true, though it would have been better (she considered now) if she
could have restrained herself from so giving it. Afraid of him as
the bright and delicate little creature was, her spirit swelled at
the thought of his knowing it from her own lips.
But where was she to go? Anywhere beyond his reach, was no reply
to the question. Somewhere must be thought of. She determined to
go to her guardian, and to go immediately. The feeling she had
imparted to Helena on the night of their first confidence, was so
strong upon her - the feeling of not being safe from him, and of
the solid walls of the old convent being powerless to keep out his
ghostly following of her - that no reasoning of her own could calm
her terrors. The fascination of repulsion had been upon her so
long, and now culminated so darkly, that she felt as if he had
power to bind her by a spell. Glancing out at window, even now, as
she rose to dress, the sight of the sun-dial on which he had leaned
when he declared himself, turned her cold, and made her shrink from
it, as though he had invested it with some awful quality from his
own nature.
She wrote a hurried note to Miss Twinkleton, saying that she had
sudden reason for wishing to see her guardian promptly, and had
gone to him; also, entreating the good lady not to be uneasy, for
all was well with her.
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