At this
critical moment the door of the room slowly opened, and Colonel Howard
entered the apartment with an air that displayed a droll mixture of
stern indignation, with a chivalric and habitual respect to the sex.
"I solicit your pardon, young ladies, for the interruption," he said; "I
trust, however, that an old man's presence can never be entirely
unexpected In the drawing-room of his wards."
As he bowed, the colonel seated himself on the end of the couch,
opposite to the place where his niece had been reclining, for Miss
Howard had risen at his entrance, and continued standing until her uncle
had comfortably disposed of himself. Throwing a glance which was not
entirely free from self-commendation around the comfortable apartment,
the veteran proceeded, in the same tone as before:
"You are not without the means of making any guest welcome, nor do I see
the necessity of such constant seclusion from the eyes of the world as
you thus rigidly practise."
Cecilia looked timidly at her uncle, with surprise, before she returned
an answer to his remark.
"We certainly owe much to your kind attention, dear sir," she at length
uttered; "but is our retirement altogether voluntary?"
"How can it be otherwise! are you not mistress of this mansion, madam?
In selecting the residence where your and, permit me to add, my
ancestors so long dwelt in credit and honor, I have surely been less
governed by any natural pride that I might have entertained on such a
subject, than by a desire to consult your comfort and happiness.
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