They penetrated little mouldering courts; they looked into
dim and stately halls and chapels; they stood long on the bridge of
Clare, gazing at that incomparable front, with all the bowery
gardens and willow-shaded walks, like Camelot, beside the slow,
terraced stream.
It was a tortured kind of delight for Howard to feel the girl
beside him; but she showed no wish to talk intimately or
emotionally. She asked many questions, and he could see that she
drank in eagerly the beauty of the place, understanding its charm
in a moment. They went in to see Monica, who was in a mood of dry
equanimity, and rallied Howard on the success of his visit to
Windlow. "I hear you entered on the scene like a fairy prince," she
said, "and charmed an estate out of Cousin Anne in the course of a
few hours. Isn't he magnificent, Maud? You mustn't think he is a
typical Don: he is quite one of our brightest flowers."
"When am I to come again to Windlow?" she added; "I suppose I must
ask Howard's leave now? He told me, you know," she said to Maud,
"that he wanted a change--he was bored with his work; so I
abandoned Aunt Anne to him; and he set up his flag in a moment.
There are no diplomatists like these cultured and unworldly men,
Maud! It was noble of me to do as I did. If I had exercised my
persuasion on Aunt Anne, and kept Howard away, I believe she would
have turned over Windlow to me, and I would have tried a social
experiment there.
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