The day passed heavily till he was again with her.

She was alone; and steady determination more than ever marked on her clear and polished brow.

She spoke, and Percy listened, absorbed; she alluded to his preservation of her child, and, in that moment of reawakened gratitude, all the enthusiasm of her country spoke in her eyes and voice; and then a moment she paused, and a bright and apparently painful flush mounted to those cheeks which Percy had ever seen so pale.

She implored his forbearance with her; his pardon, at what might appear an unwarrantable interference on her part in the affairs of his family; but his many and eloquent descriptions of them, particularly of his mother, had caused an interest that compelled her to reveal a fatal secret which, she had hoped, would never have passed her lips.

Was it a mere rumour, or were Lord Alphingham's attentions marked and decided towards his sister?
Percy believed there was very good foundation for the rumours he had heard.
Did his parents approve of it?
she again asked, and the flush of excitement faded.