But the old gentleman was evidently the pink of
punctilio. Moreover, Julian Bayne had already proved himself man enough
to be safely chargeable with his own affairs.
"At Crystal?... Thirty miles from Shaftesville?... Telephone exchange
there?... So much obliged! Good-by!"
The bitter disappointment! The torturing delay! Gladys dreaded to witness
their effects on Lillian, baffled at the outset in this miserable
delusion that her child still lived, because of a bit of stone in the
pocket of a coat he had worn. It would debilitate her as completely as if
her belief were founded on cogent reason. But Lillian, with a singularly
fresh aspect, with a buoyant energy, swept into the room after calling up
Crystal, cool, collected, as competent of dealing with delay and suspense
as factors in her plan as if it were some commonplace matter of business,
and naturally dependent on the contingencies which environ the domain of
affairs. The lamps came in and filled the room with a golden glow, as she
sat in a majestic assurance that gave her an aspect of a sort of regal
state.
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