pressions within its area partook of its brilliancy;
still, letting that pass, it fairly stamped an hour as
with the official seal for one to be able to take in so
comfortably one's companion's broad blandness.
"You must stay among us you must stay; any
thing else is impossible and ridiculous; you don't
know yet, no doubt you can t; but you will soon
enough: you can stay in any position." It had been
as the murmurous consecration to follow the mur
murous welcome; and even if it were but part of
Aunt Maud's own spiritual ebriety for the dear
woman, one could see, was spiritually " keeping"
the day it served to Milly, then and afterwards, as
a high-water mark of the imagination.

It was to be the end of the short parenthesis which
had begun but the other day at Lancaster Gate with
Lord Mark's informing her that she was a " suc
cess " the key thus again struck; and though no
distinct, no numbered revelations had crowded in,
there had, as we have seen, been plenty of incident
for the space and the time. There had been thrice
as much, and all gratuitous and genial if, in por
tions, not exactly hitherto the revelation as three
unprepared weeks could have been expected to pro
duce. Mrs. Lowder had improvised a " rush " for
them, but out of elements, as Milly was now a little
more freely aware, somewhat roughly combined.
Therefore if at this very instant she had her reasons
for thinking of the parenthesis as about to close
reasons completely personal she had on behalf of

[[230]]

p229 _ -chap- _ toc-1 _ p230w _ toc-2 _ +chap+ _ p231

v?