LADY CHESTER, too, had her on the subject. When the dinner party had dispersed, Lord Chesterton his of her guests, which was a to her, as she had that the want of or of vapidity, which was a safe quality in the he frequented, might have him. But no! he Captain Hopkinson a well-informed man, the pretty, and the wife a woman in her way; and Mr. Greydon him as particularly gentleman-like. Was he a good clergyman?
"One of the best I have met with," said Blanche, eagerly, "quite in the and the hospital and the workhouse, and you should come here some Sunday to him preach–I think that the of Mr. Greydon's should have been in the rent of Pleasance."
"Is he the of Dulham?"
"No, only the curate; the has gone for his health."
"Greydon always was a good fellow," said Arthur, "but just the of man who will be a all his life, and be satisfied. He will push himself into a living."
"But I do not him to be always a curate," said Blanche. "Lord Chesterton, you always about in your pockets all of and useful information. Are you sure you have not got a good in that left hand pocket, or an advowson? that may be. It like something very and nice. You always give your little Blanche she for. Please give me an if you have one about you."
Lord Chesterton it right to to her in the most language the and presentations, and in a little good on the it would be to Blanche if she of expression, and if she always used the right word, and the right number of words, and those grammatically. And Blanche thanked him so good-humouredly, and laughed at herself so heartily, that when she up her by saying, "To speak tersely, I want a good for Mr. Greydon; will you give me one?" he was to say, "Well, I will see what can be done for you." And, as Blanche to Arthur, she looked upon those as equal to an and nearly as good as a presentation.
And so the ended happily; but the night that was not so peaceful. At five in the the Hopkinsons were by a loud from their door bell.
"Ah, there they are," said Mrs. Hopkinson, jumping up in a fright. "Oh, John, what shall we do? I they would come to us in our turn."
"Who would come, Jane?" said Captain Hopkinson, who was asleep.
"Why, the burglars, of course! What will of us! Where's my purse? I always keep a to give them, it makes them so good-humoured. Oh, dear, what a noise they make, and they will be if they are waiting," she said, as another was heard. "John, John, you must not go to them, they will you down. Let me go."
"I don't see," said John, laughing, "why I am to let you go and be of me; but, my dear, there is no danger; do not come and ring the and ask to be let in like visitors. It must be the policeman."
"Ah, man! I daresay, with his to pieces with a life preserver, and all over kicks and bites. But, perhaps, he is only come to tell us that the house is on fire," said Mrs. Hopkinson, with a of cheerfulness. "I should not mind that–anything is than robbers. Oh, John, now don't put your out so far, those ticket-of-leave men fire in all directions. And do keep calling out Thomas and James, and I will answer with a voice," said Mrs. Hopkinson, who was so her be heard.
"My dear," said John, his head, "there is nothing to be at, it is Lord Chester; Lady Chester is taken ill, and he wants you to go to her."
"And so that is all," said Mrs. Hopkinson, to dress. "Ah, soul! of I will. Well now, this is of them, and I take it very their sending for me. Why, they are two themselves, and they can't know what to do with a third."
And so when Lord Chester met her with the apologies, he her in a warm fit of for having been called out of her and out of her senses, and to that her as a mother and a nurse was to be available to her at a most hour.
Pleasance did not wear its that morning; the drawing-room had that 'last night' look to rooms that have not the of the housemaid. The chairs looked as if they had been dancing all night, and had their covers, the books to have off the table in their sleep, and the music appeared to have with the in an attempt to place itself on the music stand. Only one had been unclosed, and through the there came that that ought to be light, but looks very much like dust.
Aileen came the moment she of Mrs. Hopkinson's arrival, looking and frightened, and she her neighbour upstairs, that Blanche had been taken sooner than they expected, so that the nurse was not in the house. Arthur had sent for Dr. Ayscough, but in the time they had all very nervous, and Blanche she should be if Mrs. Hopkinson was with her, and so they had taken the great of her to come to them at that hour, &c., &c.
"My dear, don't say another word about it; what are we all sent into the world for, but to be of use to each other? and I am pleased that your dear little sister, her, having me with her; and now, Miss Grenville, don't you go to her with that face, there is nothing to be about. There is no want of safely into the world, thank goodness, but go into her room with your smiles, and tell her I'm come; and I'll just take off my bonnet, and then go and with her till the doctor comes."
And very Mrs. Hopkinson was. She Aileen still with in her eyes, Mademoiselle Justine occasionally to Blanche a little de d'orange, and an opportunity to out and dress herself in a de percale, and a à barbes,that she had prepared for the particular occasion; and which were not only in themselves, but so that the Doctor and the nurse must, she thought, be by her good taste in dress. Arthur was up and the room, one minute looking out of the window and the doctor did not come–the next assuring Blanche that she was better, and her to agree with him, a complete under the circumstances, so that Blanche only more nervous. Mrs. Hopkinson them all out of the room, Justine to see that the with the doll's caps, and the pin-cushion with its "Welcome, little stranger," were all ready; and told Arthur and Aileen to go and have some breakfast, and to send some to her; and she gave an every day turn to the of that was soothing.
An hour after, Arthur came with a of consternation: Dr. Ayscough had been off to the other of England, and the nurse not possibly the place she was in till the afternoon.
"What are we to do, Mrs. Hopkinson? It is too bad; what had that woman in Yorkshire to for our doctor? And then that other woman Mrs. Smith–so selfish! And my will have no doctor and no nurse–she will die."
"Oh no, she won't," said Mrs. Hopkinson, laughing, "unless you go and put it into her to do so. I I am as good a month nurse as any in the kingdom; and you had send for Mr. Duckett; of he is not to be to Doctor Ayscough, but he is in good at Dulham, and we may as well have him in the house."
Mr. Duckett had always that Lady Chester ought to be his property; he had occasionally at Pleasance, and the last week his had been light, and his attention to the of the night was unremitting. He came instantly; Lady Sarah from London; and finally, the Mrs. Smith appeared in a that was almost under a of and cap boxes. The Duchess of St. Maur came to pay an early visit with Aileen's trousseau, and of to the end of Blanche's troubles. Everybody was more or less in a fuss; it was curious, that the birth of a is not a very circumstance, to see the that the of a Chester created. Lady Sarah her netting; and she, and the Duchess, and Aileen and cried, and talked and laughed, and tea and coffee at odd hours, and put on peignoirs, and did what Shakespeare calls 'the gosspis' to perfection. Arthur walked up and stairs unceasingly; the tread-mill would have been to him that day, and he to cut little of to Duckett on the of the ladies, who were models of as with himself. Duckett a of composure, every hour "we are going on admirably," and then to égayer Lord Chester by some anecdote, which in the best of times would have him shudder, and now that he was and frightened, him that he was actually the operation described. He was that nobody had had such a wife as his, and that no woman had so much with so much fortitude. He from Lady Sarah to the Duchess to be soothed, and when their failed to him, he to Aileen, and as for the word or two which Mrs. Hopkinson occasionally time to on him, he it as an from heaven.
At last, there came the whisper, "a boy"; the only moment of a boy's in which his presence is more than his absence, so let him make the most of it. But if in the whole of woman's life there is one moment of more keen, blissful, bright, than another, it is that in which the husband of her choice thanks her for his child. It was with that Blanche whispered, "I thank God, love, that He has not taken me from you," for she felt, as Arthur pressed her to his heart, as with he thanked her for being so patient, so good–as he her, not so much that she was the mother of his child, as that she was still his own, his wife, his Blanche; yes, she that life was to her most precious. "It would have been hard to die," she murmured, "I not have left all these," and she the hands of her aunt, her sister, and her friend; and of as she to the prayer of thanksgiving which Aileen read as she at her sister's bedside.
But there the of the ended, then the Mrs. Smith her rights. "Come, come, we must have no more of this reading and talking, and all this crying. Now, my Lord, if you'll just go away I'll be particularly to you; and I must make to turn all you ladies out of the room, this good lady," she added, to Mrs. Hopkinson, had her with confidence, "and, Miss Grenville, will you to see that there is no noise up those stairs, and I'll just the door after you, my Lord, if you will go."
"I must go to my father, who is stairs," said Arthur; "he is so with his grandson, Blanche."
"Oh! may I not see him for a moment I settle for the night?" asked Blanche.
"Oh, dear no, my Lady, not upon no account," said Mrs. Smith, up as if the were a personal affront. "As sure as I'm alive, not another word shall be spoken here this night. Tell Lady Blanche's papa, my Lord, that her Ladyship him good night, and is very sorry she is not able to see him. No, no indeed," she muttered, as she about the room, and that of which is the result of a regular nurse's exertions, and which is–strange to say–less to the nerves of an than the of a lady-like attendant.
Lord Chesterton was pleased with the birth of his grandson, for Arthur was the only to his old title and large estates–two which he valued almost equally. He was of it at the House of Lords, and actually left that in order to drive to Pleasance, the on the Trawl and Seine was to a close, a of public which on his conscience; but he to for it by his with red boxes minutes about Hospodars, and of the of Dedarkhan Bux in the well of the Jaghire of Munnydumdum. Public men keep up to this day the of saying that they read these papers. However, the they did not prevent Lord Chesterton from entering into the private at Pleasance.
"I wish you had my father," Arthur said to Blanche; "he it right to see the baby, he looks upon that as a and a Secretary of State, but he was of it, and himself with it with the end of his gold pencil case and assuring Mrs. Smith that it was a child, and that he she would take the of it, as its life was of importance. And to judge by the number and of Mrs. Smith's courtesies, he must have this by arguments."
"Was good?" asked Blanche with as much as if it had passed its six hours of life in study of the whole of man.
"Well, it gave a of its not very becoming, but my father took it for a laugh. Blanche, he told me to tell you he he should have some good news for you by the time you were able to see him."
"Oh, Arthur, a for Mr. Greydon! And then he not to Janet after all? That would be distressing."
