Being pledged to secrecy, she could not consult Mr. Troy--she was
left to decide for herself.
No obstacle stood in the way of her free choice of alternatives. After
their early dinner at three o'clock, Miss Pink habitually retired to
her own room "to meditate," as she expressed it. Her "meditations"
inevitably ended in a sound sleep of some hours; and during that
interval Isabel was at liberty to do as she pleased. After considerable
hesitation, her implicit belief in Moody's truth and devotion, assisted
by a strong feeling of curiosity to see the companion with whom the
steward had associated himself, decided Isabel on consenting to keep the
appointment.
Taking up her position beyond the houses, on the day and at the hour
mentioned by Moody, she believed herself to be fully prepared for the
most unfavorable impression which the most disagreeable of all possible
strangers could produce.
But the first appearance of Old Sharon--as dirty as ever, clothed in
a long, frowzy, gray overcoat, with his pug-dog at his heels, and his
smoke-blackened pipe in his mouth, with a tan white hat on his head,
which looked as if it had been picked up in a gutter, a hideous leer
in his eyes, and a jaunty trip in his walk--took her so completely
by surprise that she could only return Moody's friendly greeting by
silently pressing his hand. As for Moody's companion, to look at him for
a second time was more than she had resolution to do. She kept her eyes
fixed on the pug-dog, and with good reason; as far as appearances went,
he was indisputably the nobler animal of the two.
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