He seemed, to her, to have so
little to do with it.
'My dear child! can you suppose that any one so wrapped up in
another--Mrs. Tope's expression: not mine--as Jack is in me, could
fail to be struck all of a heap by such a sudden and complete
change in my life? I say sudden, because it will be sudden to HIM,
you know.'
She nodded twice or thrice, and her lips parted as if she would
have assented. But she uttered no sound, and her breathing was no
slower.
'How shall I tell Jack?' said Edwin, ruminating. If he had been
less occupied with the thought, he must have seen her singular
emotion. 'I never thought of Jack. It must be broken to him,
before the town-crier knows it. I dine with the dear fellow to-
morrow and next day--Christmas Eve and Christmas Day--but it would
never do to spoil his feast-days. He always worries about me, and
moddley-coddleys in the merest trifles. The news is sure to
overset him. How on earth shall this be broken to Jack?'
'He must be told, I suppose?' said Rosa.
'My dear Rosa! who ought to be in our confidence, if not Jack?'
'My guardian promised to come down, if I should write and ask him.
I am going to do so. Would you like to leave it to him?'
'A bright idea!' cried Edwin. 'The other trustee. Nothing more
natural. He comes down, he goes to Jack, he relates what we have
agreed upon, and he states our case better than we could.
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