Twiss
spoke--down fell the knitting, the needles, and the wool, all in a
tangle, as the old lady started to her feet.
"Barbara--Barbara Twiss!" she cried. "What do you mean? Oh Barbara, you
have news of our darlings? Marmaduke, my dear husband, do you hear?" and
she raised her voice, "she has brought us news at last," and Grandmamma
tottered forward a few steps and then, growing suddenly dazed and giddy,
would have fallen had not Grandpapa and Barbara started towards her from
different sides and caught her. But she soon recovered herself, and
eagerly signed to Barbara to "tell." How Barbara told she never knew. It
seemed to her that Grandmamma guessed the words before she spoke them,
and looking back on it all afterwards she could recollect nothing but a
sort of joyous confusion--Grandpapa rushing out without his hat, but
stopping to take his stick all the same--Grandmamma holding by the table
to steady herself when, in another moment, they were all back
again--then a cluster all together--of Grandpapa, Grandmamma, Duke,
Pamela and Barbara, with Nurse and Biddy, and Dymock and Cook, and
stable-boys and gardeners, and everybody, and Toby everywhere at once.
Broken words and sobs and kisses and tears and blessings all together,
and Pamela's little soft high voice sounding above all as she cried--
"Oh, dear Grandmamma, us _is_ so glad you are not dead.
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