Page:The Portrait of a Lady (1882).djvu/72

64 64 THE PORTRAIT OF A LADY. and something of the smile of childhood. Their eyes, which Isabel admired so much, were quiet and contented, and their figures, of a generous roundness, were encased in sealskin jackets. Their friendliness was great, so great that they were almost embarrassed to show it ; they seemed somewhat afraid of the young lady from the other side of the world, and rather looked than spoke their good wishes. But they made it clear to her that they hoped she would come to lunch at Lockleigh, where they lived with their brother, and then they might see her very, very often. They wondered whether she wouldn't come over some day and sleep ; they were expecting some people on the twenty-ninth, and perhaps she would come while the people were there. " I'm afraid it isn't any one very remarkable," said the elder sister; " but I daresay you will take us as you find us." " I shall find you delightful ; I think you are enchanting just as you are," replied Isabel, who often praised profusely. Her visitors blushed, and her cousin told her, after they were gone, that if she said such things to those poor girls, they would think she was quizzing them ; he was sure it was the first time they had been called enchanting. " I can't help it," Isabel answered. " I think it's lovely to be so quiet, and reasonable, and satisfied. I should like to be like that." " Heaven forbid ! " cried Ralph, with ardour. " I mean to try and imitate them," said Isabel. " I want very much to see them at home." She had this pleasure a few days later, when, with Ealph and his mother, she drove over to Lockleigh. She found the Misses Molyneux sitting in a vast drawing-room (she perceived after- wards it was one of several), in a wilderness of faded chintz ; they were dressed on this occasion in black velveteen. Isabel liked them even better at home than she had done at Garden- court, and was more than ever struck with the fact that they were not morbid. It had seemed to her before that, if they had a fault, it was a want of vivacity ; but she presently saw that they were capable of deep emotion. Before lunch she was alone with them, for some time, on one side of the room, while Lord Warburton, at a distance, talked to Mrs. Touchett. "Is it true that your brother is such a great radical 1 " Isabel asked. She knew it was true, but we have seen that her interest in human nature was keen, and she had a desire to draw the Misses Molyneux out. u Oh dear, yes ; he's immensely advanced," said Mildred, the younger sister.