Sir Edward Lucas was
quite silent and oppressed.
Coming into the morning-room after breakfast on the following day armed
with a roll of papers, Mr. Logger announced, "I met our excellent friend
Lady Latimer at Summerhay last week; she is immensely interested in the
education movement."
Mr. Fairfax and Mr. Cecil Burleigh instantly discovered that it was time
they were gone into the town, and with one compunctious glance at
Bessie, of which she did not yet know the meaning, they vanished. The
roll in Mr. Logger's hand was an article in manuscript on that education
movement in which he had stated that his friend Lady Latimer was so
immensely interested; and he had the cruelty to propose to read it to
the ladies here. He did read it, his hostess listening with gratified
approval and keeping a controlling eye on Miss Fairfax, who, when she
saw what impended, would have escaped had she been able. Miss Burleigh
bore it as she bore everything--with smiling resignation--but she
enjoyed the vivacity of Bessie's declaration afterward that the lecture
was unpardonable.
"What a shockingly vain old gentleman! Could we not have waited to read
his article in print?" said she.
"Probably it will never be in print. He toadies my aunt, who likes to be
credited with a literary taste, but Cecil says people laugh at him; he
is not of any weight, either literary or political, though he has great
pretensions.
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