Page 824 - the-portrait-of-a-lady

a week after the ceremony in the churchyard, she was trying
to fix it for an hour; but her eyes often wandered from the
book in her hand to the open window, which looked down
the long avenue. It was in this way that she saw a modest
vehicle approach the door and perceived Lord Warburton
sitting, in rather an uncomfortable attitude, in a corner of
it. He had always had a high standard of courtesy, and it was
therefore not remarkable, under the circumstances, that he
should have taken the trouble to come down from London
to call on Mrs. Touchett. It was of course Mrs. Touchett he
had come to see, and not Mrs. Osmond; and to prove to her-
self the validity of this thesis Isabel presently stepped out
of the house and wandered away into the park. Since her
arrival at Gardencourt she had been but little out of doors,
the weather being unfavourable for visiting the grounds.
This evening, however, was fine, and at first it struck her as
a happy thought to have come out. The theory I have just
mentioned was plausible enough, but it brought her little
rest, and if you had seen her pacing about you would have
said she had a bad conscience. She was not pacified when at
the end of a quarter of an hour, finding herself in view of
the house, she saw Mrs. Touchett emerge from the portico
accompanied by her visitor. Her aunt had evidently pro-
posed to Lord Warburton that they should come in search
of her. She was in no humour for visitors and, if she had
had a chance, would have drawn back behind one of the
great trees. But she saw she had been seen and that noth-
ing was left her but to advance. As the lawn at Gardencourt
was a vast expanse this took some time; during which she

824 The Portrait of a Lady