The young Mr. Thompson talked shrewdly
enough on things of business, and Mr. Stocks abated something of his
pomposity and was honestly amiable. These were her own people, the
workers for whom she had craved. And yet--were they so desirable? Her
father's grave, keen face pleased her always, but what of the others?
The radiant gentlewomen whom she had met with the Manorwaters seemed to
belong to another world than this of petty social struggling and awkward
ostentation. And the men! Doubtless they were foolish, dilettanti,
barbarians of sport, half-hearted and unpractical! And she shut her
heart to any voice which would defend them.
Lewis drove over to dine some four days later with dismal presentiments.
The same hopeless self-contempt which had hung over him for weeks was
still weighing on his soul. He dreaded the verdict of Alice's eyes, and
in a heart which held only kindness he looked for a cold criticism. It
was this despair which made his position hopeless He would never take
his chance; there could be no opportunity for the truth to become clear
to both; for in his plate-armour of despair he was shielded against the
world. Such was his condition to the eyes of a friend; to himself he
was the common hopeless lover who sighed for a stony mistress.
He noticed changes in Glenavelin. Businesslike leather pouches stood in
the hall, and an unwontedly large pile of letters lay on a table.
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