When John had left her she took her herbs to the still room, laid them
in their places, and removed the large white linen apron which covered
her from head to feet. Then she stood beautifully gowned in black satin
with fine thread-lace cuffs turned back nearly to the elbows and a large
collar of the same lace fastened at the throat with a brooch of gold and
diamonds. Her black hair was fashionably dressed and finished with a
small cap of lace and pink ribbon, and her feet shod in black satin
sandals--a splendid woman of fifty-three years old, showing every grace
at its finest with as yet no sign of decay in any of them.
John gave her his arm proudly, but he noticed that her face clouded
before she was seated. She would not ask as to Harry's whereabouts, but
she missed his presence, and anger grew in her heart. "He is with that
girl," she thought, and she was sick with anxiety and inquietude. The
roast sirloin was done to the last perfect minute, and the Yorkshire
pudding deliciously brown and light; the table was set without a flaw or
a "forget," and the fire and light just as they should be.
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