Page 177 - the-portrait-of-a-lady

Chapter 14

Miss Stackpole would have prepared to start immediate-
ly; but Isabel, as we have seen, had been notified that Lord
Warburton would come again to Gardencourt, and she be-
lieved it her duty to remain there and see him. 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 post-
ponements 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 com-
ing; and the old man, in consequence, left his room earlier
than usual and made his appearance at the two o’clock re-
past. This was by no means an act of vigilance on his part,
but the fruit of a benevolent belief that his being of the com-
pany 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 dictat-
ed by reflexions of the same order as Mr. Touchett’s. The
two visitors were introduced to Miss Stackpole, who, at lun-
cheon, occupied a seat adjoining Lord Warburton’s. Isabel,
who was nervous and had no relish for the prospect of again

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