Nancy, as I have also said, was
always trying to go off with Edward alone. That had been her
habit for years. And Leonora found it to be her duty to stop that. It
was very difficult. Nancy was used to having her own way, and for
years she had been used to going off with Edward, ratting,
rabbiting, catching salmon down at Fordingbridge, district-visiting
of the sort that Edward indulged in, or calling on the tenants. And
at Nauheim she and Edward had always gone up to the Casino
alone in the evenings--at any rate, whenever Florence did not call
for his attendance. It shows the obviously innocent nature of the
regard of those two that even Florence had never had any idea of
jealousy. Leonora had cultivated the habit of going to bed at ten
o'clock.
I don't know how she managed it, but, for all the time they were at
Nauheim, she contrived never to let those two be alone together,
except in broad daylight, in very crowded places. If a Protestant
had done that it would no doubt have awakened a
self-consciousness in the girl. But Catholics, who have always
reservations and queer spots of secrecy, can manage these things
better. And I dare say that two things made this easier--the death of
Florence and the fact that Edward was obviously sickening.
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