This was less their own wish than his; he
said Alice wanted the change, and he wished she looked a
little fatter. Besides, the earnest pleadings of the whole
family were not to be denied. Ellen was very glad of this,
though there was one drawback to the pleasures of Ventnor —
she could not feel quite at home with any of the young people,
but only Ellen Chauncey and her cousin George Walsh. This
seemed very strange to her; she almost thought Margaret
Dunscombe was at the bottom of it all, but she recollected she
had felt something of this before Margaret came. She tried to
think nothing about it; and in truth it was not able to
prevent her from being very happy. The breach, however, was
destined to grow wider.
About four miles from Ventnor was a large town called
Randolph. Thither they drove to church Sunday morning, the
whole family; but the hour of dinner and the distance
prevented any one from going in the afternoon. The members of
the family were scattered in different parts of the house,
most in their own rooms. Ellen with some difficulty made her
escape from her young companions, whose manner of spending the
time did not satisfy her notions of what was right on that
day, and went to look in the library for her friends. They
were there, and alone; Alice half reclining on the sofa, half
in her brother's arms; he was reading or talking to her; there
was a book in his hand.
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