And the earl coming to
see the place, took a fancy to it, and determined to keep it in his own
hands. He was a friendly person, and his ideas of decoration were quite
different from those of his grandmother. He gave away a great deal of
her old furniture, and sold the rest.
Among the articles given away was the Italian cabinet, which the vicar
had always had a fancy for; and naturally it had not been in the vicarage
a day, before the boys insisted on finding out the way of opening the
secret drawer. And there the paper was found, in the most natural way,
without any trouble or mystery at all.
XV.
They all gathered to see the wanderer coming back. She was not as she had
been when she went away. Her face, which had been so easy, was worn with
trouble; her eyes were deep with things unspeakable. Pity and knowledge
were in the lines, which time had not made. It was a great event in that
place to see one come back who did not come by the common way. She was
received by the great officer who had given her permission to go, and her
companions who had received her at the first all came forward, wondering,
to hear what she had to say; because it only occurs to those wanderers
who have gone back to earth of their own will, to return when they have
accomplished what they wished, or it is judged above that there is
nothing possible more.
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