What changes time had brought! When Molly arrived at the Towers she was convoyed into Lady Cumnor's presence by Lady Harriet.It was a mark of respect to the lady of the house, which the latter knew that her mother would expect; but she was anxious to get it over, and take Molly up into the room which she had been so busy in arranging for her.Lady Cumnor was, however, very kind, if not positively gracious.'You are Lady Harriet's visitor, my dear,' said she, 'and I hope she will take good care of you.If not, come and complain of her to me.' It was as near an approach to a joke as Lady Cumnor ever perpetrated, and from it Lady Harriet knew that her mother was pleased by Molly's manners and appearance.'Now, here you are in your own kingdom; and into this room I shan't venture to come without express permission.Here is the last new Quarterly , and the last new novel, and the last new essays.Now, my dear, you need not come down again to-day unless you like it.Parkes shall bring you everything and anything you want.You must get strong as fast, as you can, for all sorts of great and famous people are coming to-morrow and the next day, and I think you'll like to see them.Suppose for to-day you only come down to lunch, and if you like it, in the evening.Dinner is such a wearily long meal, if one is not strong; and you would not miss much, for there is only my cousin Charles in the house now, and he is the personification of sensible silence.' Molly was only too glad to allow Lady Harriet to decide everything for her.It had begun to rain, and was, altogether, a gloomy day for August;and there was a small fire of scented wood burning cheerfully in the sitting-room appropriated to her.High up, it commanded a wide and pleasant view over the park, and from it could be seen the spire of Hollingford Church, which gave Molly a pleasant idea of neighbourhood to home.She was left alone, lying on the sofa - books near her, wood crackling and blazing, wafts of wind bringing the beating rain against the window, and so enhancing the sense of indoor comfort by the outdoor contrast.Parkes was unpacking for her.Lady Harriet had introduced Parkes to Molly by saying, 'Now, Molly, this is Mrs Parkes, the only person I ever am afraid of.She scolds me if I dirty myself with my paints, just as if I was a little child; and she makes me go to bed when I want to sit up,' - Parkes was smiling grimly all the time; - 'so to get rid of her tyranny I give her you as victim.
Parkes, rule over Miss Gibson with a rod of iron; make her cat and drink, and rest and sleep, and dress as you think wisest and best.' Parkes had begun her reign by putting Molly on the sofa, and saying, 'If you will give me your keys, Miss, I will unpack your things, and let you know when it is time for me to arrange your hair, preparatory to luncheon.'
For if Lady Harriet used familiar colloquialisms from time to time, she certainly had not learnt it from Parkes, who piqued herself on the correctness of her language.When Molly went down to lunch she found 'cousin Charles,' with his aunt, Lady Cumnor.He was a certain Sir Charles Morton, the son of Lady Cumnor's only sister: a plain, sandy-haired man of thirty-five or so; immensely rich, very sensible, awkward, and reserved.He had had a chronic attachment, of many years' standing, to his cousin, Lady Harriet, who did not care for him in the least, although it was the marriage very earnestly desired for her by her mother.Lady Harriet was, however, on friendly terms with him, ordered him about, and told him what to do, and what to leave undone, without having even a doubt as to the willingness of his obedience.She had given him his cue about Molly.'Now, Charles, the girl wants to be interested and amused without having to take any trouble for herself; she is too delicate to be very active either in mind or body.Just look after her when the house gets full, and place her where she can hear and see everything and everybody, without any fuss and responsibility.' So Sir Charles began this day at luncheon by taking Molly under his quiet protection.He did not say much to her; but what he did say was thoroughly friendly and sympathetic; and Molly began, as he and Lady Harriet intended that she should, to have a kind of pleasant reliance upon him.Then in the evening while the rest of the family were at dinner - after Molly's tea and hour of quiet repose, Parkes came and dressed her in some of the new clothes prepared for the Kirkpatrick visit, and did her hair in some new and pretty way, so that when Molly looked at herself in the cheval-glass, she scarcely knew the elegant reflection to be that of herself.She was fetched down by Lady Harriet into the great long formidable drawing-room, which, as an interminable place of pacing, had haunted her dreams ever since her childhood.At the further end sate Lady Cumnor at her tapestry work; the light of fire and candle seemed all concentrated on that one bright part where presently Lady Harriet made tea, and Lord Cumnor went to sleep, and Sir Charles read passages aloud from the Edinburgh Review to the three ladies at their work.When Molly went to bed she was constrained to admit that staying at the Towers as a visitor was rather pleasant than otherwise; and she tried to reconcile old impressions with new ones, until she fell asleep.There was another comparatively quiet day before the expected guests began to arrive in the evening.Lady Harriet took Molly a drive in her little pony-carriage;and for the first time for many weeks Molly began to feel the delightful spring of returning health; the dance of youthful spirits in the fresh air cleared by the previous day's rain.
