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the latter part of the winter. Mr. Welland was a mild and silent man, with no opinions but with many habits. With these habits none might interfere; and one of them demanded that his wife and daughter should always go with him on his annual journey to the south. To preserve an unbroken domesticity was essential to his peace of mind; he would not have known where his hair-brushes were, or how to provide stamps for his letters, if Mrs. Welland had not been there to tell him. As all the members of the family adored each other, and as Mr. Welland was the central object of their idolatry, it never occurred to his wife and May to let him go to St. Augustine alone; and his sons, who were both in the law, and could not leave New York during the winter, always joined him for Easter and travelled back with him. It was impossible for Archer to discuss the necessity of Mays accompanying her father. The reputation of the Mingotts family physician was largely based on the attack of pneumonia which Mr. Welland had never had; and his insistence on St. Augustine was therefore inflexible. Originally, it had been intended that Mays engagement should not be announced till her return from Florida, and the fact that it had been made known sooner could not be expected to alter Mr. Wellands plans. Archer would have liked to join the travellers and have a few weeks of sunshine and boating with his betrothed; but he too was bound by custom and conventions. Little arduous as his professional duties were, he would have been convicted of frivolity by the whole Mingott clan if he had suggested asking for a holiday in mid-winter; and he accepted Mays departure with the resignation which he perceived would have to be one of the principal constituents of married life. He was conscious that Madame Olenska was looking at him under lowered lids. I have done what you wishedwhat you advised, she said abruptly. AhIm glad, he returned, embarrassed by her broaching the subject at such a moment. I understandthat you were right, she went on a little breathlessly; but sometimes life is difficult . . . perplexing. . . I know. And I wanted to tell you that I DO feel you were right; and that Im grateful to you, she ended, lifting her opera-glass quickly to her eyes as the door of the box opened and Beauforts resonant voice broke in on them. Archer stood up, and left the box and the theatre. Only the day before he had received a letter from May Welland in which, with characteristic candour, she had asked him to be kind to Ellen in their absence. She likes you and admires you so muchand you know, though she doesnt show it, shes still very lonely and unhappy. I dont think Granny understands her, or uncle Lovell Mingott either; they really think shes much worldlier and fonder of society than she is. And I can quite see that New York must seem dull to her, though the family wont admit it. I think shes been used to lots of things we havent got; wonderful music, and picture shows, and celebritiesartists and authors and all the clever people you admire. Granny cant understand her wanting anything but lots of dinners and clothesbut I can see that youre almost the only person in New York who can talk to her about what she really cares for. His wise Mayhow he had loved her for that letter! But he had not meant to act on it; he was too busy, to begin with, and he did not care, as an engaged man, to play too conspicuously the part of Madame Olenskas champion. He had an idea that she knew how to take care of herself a good deal better than the ingenuous May imagined. She had Beaufort at her feet, Mr. van der Luyden hovering above her like a protecting deity, and any number of candidates (Lawrence Lefferts among them) waiting their opportunity in the middle distance. Yet he never saw her, or exchanged a word with her, without feeling that, after |
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