and Mrs. Hautville."
"I don't know them, I think. Well, I will see them."
They entered, and the admiral stared a little, and wondered how this
couple came together--the keen but plain old man, with clothes hanging
on him, and the dashing beauty, with her dress in the height of the
fashion, and her gauntleted hands. However, he bowed ceremoniously, and
begged his visitors to be seated.
Now the folding-doors were ajar, and the _soi-disant_ Mrs. Oldfield
peeped. She saw Bella Bruce at some distance, seated by the fire, in a
reverie.
Judge that young lady's astonishment when she looked up and observed a
large white, well-shaped hand, sparkling with diamonds and rubies,
beckoning her furtively.
The owner of that sparkling hand soon heard a soft rustle of silk come
toward the door; the very rustle, somehow, was eloquent, and betrayed
love and timidity, and something innocent yet subtle. The jeweled hand
went in again directly.
CHAPTER VIII.
MEANTIME Mr. Oldfield began to tell the admiral who he was, and that he
was come to remove a false impression about a client of his, Sir
Charles Bassett.
"That, sir," said the admiral, sternly, "is a name we never mention
here."
He rose and went to the folding-doors, and deliberately closed them.
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