Mrs. Waugh knew all about it, but she said nothing,
except to discourage inquiry upon the subject. In the midst of the
speculation following Jacquelina's disappearance, Cloudesley Mornington
had come home. He staid a day or two at Luckenough, a week at
Dell-Delight, and then took himself, with his broken heart, off from the
neighborhood, and got ordered upon a distant and active service.
There were also other considerations that rendered it desirable for
Miriam to reside at Dell-Delight, rather than at Luckenough: Commodore
Waugh would have made a terrible guardian to a child so lately used to
the blessedness of a home with her mother--and withal, so shy and
sensitive as to breathe freely only in an atmosphere of peace and
affection, and Luckenough would have supplied a dark, and dreary home
for her whose melancholy temperament and recent bereavements rendered
change of scene and the companionship of other children, absolute
necessities. It was for these several reasons that Mrs. Waugh was forced
to consent that Thurston should carry his little adopted daughter to his
own home. Thurston's household consisted now of himself, Mrs. Morris,
his housekeeper; Alice Morris, her daughter; Paul Douglass, his own
half-brother; poor Fanny, and lastly, Miriam.
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