“There is not a particle of pride in her!” exclaimed the admiring Cecilia, as she had done upon a previous occasion.
“It is you Hath blown this coal betwixt my lord and me.”
The announcement that our sovereign Lady herself had resolved to take a bird’s-eye view of her dominions from the clouds, could hardly have created a greater sensation in the county of Somersetshire, than the rumour, presently confirmed “by authority,” that the Earl of Dashleigh was to be one of the ærial travellers in the _Eaglet_. From the squire to the swineherd, every one within a circuit of many miles was full of the strange report. The nobleman’s motive for attempting the feat was palpable to all who had read or heard of “The Precipice and the Peer;” and speculation was rife, and heavy bets were exchanged as to whether the hero of the Swiss adventure would ever summon up sufficient courage to mount aloft in a balloon.
The rumour reached the dwelling of the Bardons. The doctor elevated his bushy black brows, and drew in his lips as if to whistle; while Cecilia stole a glance at the countess to see the effect of the announcement upon her. Annabella changed colour, but affected to believe the report absurd, and dismissed the subject at once from her discourse if not from her thoughts. But from that hour the young wife’s manner became reserved and gloomy. She made no effort to keep up conversation, did not seem to hear questions addressed to her, or if she heard, gave her replies at random. She would scarcely touch at table the delicate food procured for her with trouble and expense. Cecilia in vain taxed her brain to find something that a peeress could eat, and the doctor brought vegetables from his garden which he believed that Covent Garden could not equal, to see them lie untasted on the plate of his silent guest.
Under any other circumstances the temper of the old lion would have given way, but the report of Dashleigh’s intended exploit had filled him with malignant delight. Bardon felt assured that the spirit of the adventurous peer would fail him when put to the proof, and so eager was the doctor to enjoy this expected new source of humiliation to his foe, that he resolved to accept Augustine’s invitation after all, and make one of the spectators who should witness the ascent of the _Eaglet_.