That night, when in fear and trembling we attended the royal
supper table, we found that Nyleptha was laid up with a bad headache.
That headache lasted for three whole days; but on the fourth
she was present at supper as usual, and with the most gracious
and sweet smile gave Sir Henry her hand to lead her to the table.
No allusion was made to the little affair described above beyond
her saying, with a charming air of innocence, that when she came
to see us at our studies the other day she had been seized with
a giddiness from which she had only now recovered. She supposed,
she added with a touch of the humour that was common to her,
that it was the sight of people working so hard which had affected her.
In reply Sir Henry said, dryly, that he had thought she did not
look quite herself on that day, whereat she flashed one of those
quick glances of hers at him, which if he had the feelings of
a man must have gone through him like a knife, and the subject
dropped entirely. Indeed, after supper was over Nyleptha condescended
to put us through an examination to see what we had learnt, and
to express herself well satisfied with the results. Indeed,
she proceeded to give us, especially Sir Henry, a lesson on her
own account, and very interesting we found it.
Pages:
264
265
266
267
268
269
270
271
272
273
274
275
276
277
278
279
280
281
282
283
284
285
286
287
288