Bernard felt that he
had made the necessary excision when, at the end of the month, he
wrote to Gordon Wright of his engagement. He had been putting off
the performance of this duty from day to day--it seemed so hard to
accomplish it gracefully. He did it at the end very briefly; it struck
him that this was the best way. Three days after he had sent his letter
there arrived one from Gordon himself, informing Bernard that he had
suddenly determined to bring Blanche to Europe. She was not well, and
they would lose no time. They were to sail within a week after his
writing. The letter contained a postscript--"Captain Lovelock comes with
us."
CHAPTER XXIV
Bernard prepared for Gordon's arrival in Paris, which, according to his
letter, would take place in a few days. He was not intending to stop in
England; Blanche desired to proceed immediately to the French capital,
to confer with her man-milliner, after which it was probable that they
would go to Italy or to the East for the winter. "I have given her a
choice of Rome or the Nile," said Gordon, "but she tells me she does n't
care a fig where we go."
I say that Bernard prepared to receive his friends, and I mean that he
prepared morally--or even intellectually.
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