"Very well," he said, putting his hands in the pockets of the short velvet
jacket he was wearing, and preparing to follow. The twins led the way,
holding their candles aloft, and descending the stairs in step. But
exactly what the mysteries were into which they initiated their uncle that
night nobody knows. Only they were all very late for breakfast next
morning, and when Lord Dawne saw his sisters, he listened in silence to
such explanations of Angelica's reappearance at the castle as they were
able to offer.
Angelica herself forgot she was not at home, and came down to breakfast
yawning unconcernedly. The exclamation of surprise with which she was
greeted took her aback at first. She had intended to send a carriage,
early in the morning, for her maid Elizabeth, and to walk in herself with
her hat on when it returned, as if she had come in it; but as she only
remembered this intention when Lady Fulda exclaimed "Why, Angelica, how
did you come?" she was obliged to have recourse to the simple truth, and
after answering blandly: "I walked, auntie," she left the matter there for
others to elucidate at their leisure if they chose to make inquiries.
But the accustomed trouble with the Heavenly Twins seemed insignificant at
this time compared with other perplexities which were pending at the
castle. The old duke had been very queer lately. He had "been dreaming and
seeing things," as Diavolo explained to Angelica.
"Storms and what dreams, ye holy gods, what dreams!"
Father Ricardo said they were miraculous temptations of the devil, the
implication being that the poor old duke's soul was more specially worth
wrangling for than those of less exalted sinners. The one dear wish of
Father Ricardo's life was to be mixed up in something miraculous. He was
too humble to expect anything to be revealed to himself personally, but he
had great hopes of the saintly Lady Fulda; and certainly, if concessions
are to be wrung from the Infinite to the Finite by perfect holiness of
life and mind, she should have obtained some. She had become deeply read
in that kind of lore under Father Ricardo's direction, and had meditated
so much about occurrences of the kind that it would; not have surprised
her if she had met "Our Lady" anywhere, bright light, blue cloak,
supernatural beauty, indefinite draperies, lilies, sacred heart, and all.
She had, in fact, thought too much about it, and was becoming somewhat
hysterical, which raised Father Ricardo's hopes, for he was not a
scientific man, and knew nothing of the natural history of the human being
and of hysteria; and, besides, by dint of long watching, fasting, and
otherwise outraging what he believed to have been created in the image of
God, viz., his own poor body, and also by the feverish fervour with which
he entreated Heaven to vouchsafe them a revelation at Morne for the
benefit of Holy Church, he was worn to a shadow, and had become somewhat
hysterical himself. The twins had discovered him on his knees before the
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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