--BISHOP EDWARD BICKERSTETH.
Twenty minutes later Malcolm knocked at the door of his mother's
dressing-room. A deep, sonorous voice bade him enter. As he did so
Mrs. Herrick laid down the book she was reading on the toilet-table,
and turned to greet him. "My dearest boy, how glad I am to see you!"
she exclaimed with a warm, motherly kiss. Then she put her hands on
his shoulders and regarded him with an affectionate smile that quite
lighted up her homely face. Even in her youth Mrs. Herrick had never
been handsome. Indeed, her old friends maintained that she was far
better-looking in her middle age, in spite of all her hard work and
that burning of the candle at both ends which is so abhorrent to the
well-regulated mind. Her features were strongly marked, and somewhat
weather-beaten, and the lower part of the face was too heavily
moulded, but the clear, thoughtful gray eyes had a pleasant light in
them. Malcolm was secretly very proud of his mother. He liked to
watch her moving among her guests in the dignified, gracious way
that was habitual to her.
"She is the very personification of an old-fashioned English
gentlewoman," he said once to Cedric; "but she is hardly modern
enough in her ideas.
Pages:
65
66
67
68
69
70
71
72
73
74
75
76
77
78
79
80
81
82
83
84
85
86
87
88
89