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14
THE EUROPEANS.
[CH.
"Don't tell me," Felix exclaimed, "that your charming young people are a source of grief to you!"
"I don't speak of Charlotte." And then, after a pause, Mr. Wentworth continued, "I don't speak of Gertrude. But I feel considerable anxiety about Clifford. I will tell you another time."
The next time he gave Felix a sitting his nephew reminded him that he had taken him into his confidence. "How is Clifford to-day?" Felix asked. "He has always seemed to me a young man of remarkable discretion. Indeed, he is only too discreet; he seems on his guard against me as if he thought me rather light company. The other day he told his sister—Gertrude