Gerard moved again towards the
door, but before he reached it, his step faltered, and he
turned again and looked at his daughter with tenderness and
anxiety. She remained in the same position, save that her
arms that had fallen were crossed before her, and her downward
glance seemed fixed in deep abstraction. Her father
approached her unnoticed; he took her hand; she started, and
looking round with a cold and distressed expression, said, in
a smothered tone, "I thought you had gone."
"Not in anger, my sweet child," and Gerard pressed her to his
heart.
"But you go," murmured Sybil.
"These men await me," said Gerard. "Our council is of
importance. We must take some immediate steps for the aid of
our brethren in distress at Birmingham, and to discountenance
similar scenes of outbreak as this affair: but the moment this
is over, I will come back to you; and for the rest, it shall
be as you desire; to-morrow we will return to Mowbray."
Sybil returned her father's embrace with a warmth which
expressed her sense of his kindness and her own soothed
feelings, but she said nothing; and bidding her now to be of
good cheer, Gerard quitted the apartment.
Book 5 Chapter 4
The clock of St John's church struck three, and the clock of
St John's church struck four; and the fifth hour sounded from
St John's church; and the clock of St John's was sounding six.
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