For four or five days he had made no response to her
letter; then he had written, very briefly, to say he would come to
luncheon two days later. There was something in these delays and
postponements that touched the girl and renewed her sense of his
desire to be considerate and patient, not to appear to urge her too
grossly; a consideration the more studied that she was so sure he
"really liked" her. Isabel told her uncle she had written to him,
mentioning also his intention of coming; and the old man, in
consequence, left his room earlier than usual and made his
appearance at the two o'clock repast. This was by no means an act of
vigilance on his part, but the fruit of a benevolent belief that his
being of the company might help to cover any conjoined straying away
in case Isabel should give their noble visitor another hearing. That
personage drove over from Lockleigh and brought the elder of his
sisters with him, a measure presumably dictated by reflexions of the
same order as Mr. Touchett's. The two visitors were introduced to Miss
Stackpole, who, at luncheon, occupied a seat adjoining Lord
Warburton's. Isabel, who was nervous and had no relish for the
prospect of again arguing the question he had so prematurely opened,
could not help admiring his good-humoured self-possession, which quite
disguised the symptoms of that preoccupation with her presence it
was natural she should suppose him to feel.
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