His soul was full of
high resolve to be a son and brother to this rare family into which he
was entering such as might do them honour. For it was a very significant
fact that to him the people who stood nearest to Roberta were of great
consequence; and that a source of extraordinary satisfaction to him,
from the first, had been his connection with a family which seemed to
him ideal, and association with which made up to him for much of which
his life had been empty.
A proof of this had been his invitation, through his grandfather, who
had warmly seconded his wish, to Mr. and Mrs. Rufus Gray, to come and
stay with the Kendricks throughout this Christmas party, precisely as
they had done the year before. To have Aunt Ruth preside at breakfast on
this auspicious morning had given Richard the greatest pleasure, and the
kiss he had bestowed upon her had been one which she recognized as very
like the tribute of a son. From her side he had gone to St. Luke's.
"Good-bye, dear, for a few hours," he whispered to Ruth, as he put her
into the brougham, driven by the old family coachman, in which she had
come alone to church.
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