She had not many
idle moments, however, for meditation on her love matters, or for
dreamy study of the delicate beginnings of the autumnal tints on the
trees of the Bois, for the carriage she had been awaiting soon made
its appearance, and bowling rapidly down the road drew up sharply at
the door. She had just time to perceive that her uncle had not
arrived alone, when he entered,--and with a pretty grace and
reverence for his holy calling, she dropped on one knee before him
to receive his benediction, which he gave by laying a hand on her
soft hair and signing the cross on her brow. After which he raised
her and looked at her fondly.
"My dear child!"--he said, tenderly,--and again "My dear child!"
Then he turned towards Manuel, who had followed him and was now
standing quietly on the threshold of the apartment.
"Angela, this is one of our Lord's 'little ones,'" he said,--"He is
alone in the world, and I have made myself his guardian and
protector for the present. You will be kind to him--yes--as kind as
if you were his sister, will you not?--for we are all one family in
the sight of Heaven, and sorrow and loneliness and want can but
strengthen the love which should knit us all together."
Raising her candid eyes, and fixing them on Manuel, Angela smiled.
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