Read "Thomas Wingfold. Volume III" by George MacDonald online for free on Textopian. Full text with search, annotations, highlights, and AI-powered reading aids.
No one answered Helen's knock. She repeated it, and still no answer / came. Her heart might have failed her, but that she heard voices: / what if they were talking about Leopold? At length, after knocking / four or five times, she heard the step as of a child coming down a / stair; but it passed the door. Clearly no one had heard her. She / knocked yet again, and immediately it was opened by Rachel. The / pleasured surprise that shone up in her face when she saw who it was / that stood without, was lovely to see, and Helen, on whose miserable / isolation it came like a sunrise of humanity, took no counsel with / pride, but, in simple gratitude for the voiceless yet eloquent / welcome, bent down and kissed her. The little arms were flung about / her neck, and the kiss returned with such a gentle warmth and / restrained sweetness as would have satisfied the most fastidious in / the matter of salute -- to which class, however, Helen did not belong, / for she seldom kissed anyone. Then Rachel took her by the hand, and / led her into the kitchen, placed a chair for her near the fire, and / said,
"I AM sorry there is no fire in the parlour. The gentlemen are in my / uncle's room. Oh, Miss Lingard, I do wish you could have heard how / they have been talking!"