Before her stood the orator himself.
Book 5 Chapter 2
Egremont had recognized Sybil as she entered the garden. He
was himself crossing the park to attend a committee of the
House of Commons which had sat for the first time that
morning. The meeting had been formal and brief, the committee
soon adjourned, and Egremont repaired to the spot where he was
in the hope of still finding Sybil.
He approached her not without some restraint; with reserve and
yet with tenderness. "This is a great, an unexpected pleasure
indeed." he said in a faltering tone. She had looked up; the
expression of an agitation, not distressful, on her beautiful
countenance could not be concealed. She smiled through a
gushing vision: and with a flushed cheek, impelled perhaps by
her native frankness, perhaps by some softer and irresistible
feeling of gratitude, respect, regard, she said in a low
voice, "I was reading your beautiful speech."
"Indeed," said Egremont much moved, "that is an honour,--a
pleasure,--a reward, I never could have even hoped to have
attained."
"By all," continued Sybil with more self-possession, "it must
be read with pleasure, with advantage, but by me--oh! with
what deep interest.
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