It was an infinite relief to him to find his grandmother lying on a sofa by the fire in her pretty morning room.

A little tea-table was drawn close up to her sofa, and she was taking her afternoon tea.

It was rather painful to see her lifting her tea-cup slowly and carefully with her left hand, but that was all.
The dark eyes still flashed with the old eagle glance, the lines of the lips were as proud and firm as ever.

All sign of contraction or distortion had passed away.

In hours of calm her ladyship's beauty was unimpaired; but with any strong emotion there came a convulsive working of the features, and the face was momentarily drawn and distorted, as it had been at the time of the seizure.
Maulevrier's presence had not an unduly agitating effect on her ladyship.