He was standing before the fire warming himself after his cold drive, and as Elizabeth entered he broke off in the middle of a sentence and silently shook hands with her.

Elizabeth felt at once conscious that his manner was even more constrained and guarded than usual, and this made her nervous, and for the moment she could find nothing to say.

It was a relief to them both when Dinah observed in her quiet, matter-of-fact way-- "Mr.Herrick is so kind and obliging, Betty; he has promised not to leave us until quite late to-morrow afternoon--that will give us plenty of time for a nice talk.

You see, Cedric will be with us this evening, and we may find it difficult to get rid of him, and there is so much that I want to say." "I think I can take him off your hands," replied Elizabeth; and then she turned to Malcolm, though he noticed that she avoided looking at him, and there was a curious abruptness in her manner that almost amounted to awkwardness.
"Mr.Carlyon has sent you a message, Mr.Herrick.He thinks you will be sure to call at the vicarage, and he would like you to look in at the White Cottage as you pass.

He says that he would be pleased to shake hands with you." There was no doubt that Malcolm was surprised.