She had not attended to him when he named the bidden guests, taking it
for granted that a boy of thirteen would prefer companions of his own
size to a child of Reuben's tender age. And now it came out from Edward
how Marten had refused to come without his brother, and that Mr. and
Mrs. Mortimer were from home, and this, as might be expected, added not
a little to the distress of Mr. and Mrs. Jameson, for hitherto they had
thought the child had visited them with the permission of his parents,
and now that they heard that those parents were at Portsmouth, they were
more and more uneasy, and they blamed themselves not a little for having
been so indulgent in th
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