The thing was done therefore
at the little American chapel, on a very hot day, in the presence only
of Mrs. Touchett and her son, of Pansy Osmond and the Countess Gemini.
That severity in the proceedings of which I just spoke was in part the
result of the absence of two persons who might have been looked for on
the occasion and who would have lent it a certain richness. Madame
Merle had been invited, but Madame Merle, who was unable to leave
Rome, had written a gracious letter of excuses. Henrietta Stackpole
had not been invited, as her departure from America, announced to
Isabel by Mr. Goodwood, was in fact frustrated by the duties of her
profession; but she had sent a letter, less gracious than Madame
Merle's, intimating that, had she been able to cross the Atlantic, she
would have been present not only as a witness but as a critic. Her
return to Europe had taken place somewhat later, and she had
effected a meeting with Isabel in the autumn, in Paris, when she had
indulged-perhaps a trifle too freely-her critical genius. Poor Osmond,
who was chiefly the subject of it, had protested so sharply that
Henrietta was obliged to declare to Isabel that she had taken a step
which put a barrier between them.
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