But fortune favoured her. There was a knock at the library door. The
Squire irritably said, 'Come in!' and Forest announced, 'Captain
Dell.' The Squire, with some muttered remark, walked across to his
own table.
The agent entered with a beaming countenance. All that he knew was
that the only competent person in a rather crazy household had
returned to it, and that business was now likely to go forward. He
had brought some important letters, and he laid them nominally
before his employer, but really before Elizabeth. He and she talked;
the Squire smoked and listened, morosely aloof. Yet by the end of
the agent's visit a grudging but definite consent had been given to
the great timber deal; and Elizabeth hurried off as Captain Dell
departed--thankful for the distant sound of the first bell for
dinner.
* * * * *
Sitting up in bed that night, with her hands behind her head, while
a westerly wind blew about the house, Elizabeth again did her best
to examine both her conscience and her situation.
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