both the
persons must be impulsive; each must find in the other exactly what each
has long sought and most earnestly desired, and each must recognize the
discovery instantaneously. I suppose, also, that unless such love lasts
it does not deserve the name; but in order that it may be durable it is
necessary that the persons should realize that they have not been
deceived in their estimate of each other, that they should possess in
themselves the capacity for endurance, that their tastes should change
little and their hearts not at all. People who are at once very
impulsive and very enduring are few in the world and very hard to mate;
wherefore love at first sight, but of a lasting nature, is a rare
phenomenon.

Hermione did not belong to this class, and she had certainly not loved
Paul during the first few days of their acquaintance. Her nature was
relatively slow and hard to rouse. A season in society had produced no
impression upon her; and if Paul had stayed only a week, or even a
fortnight, at Carvel Place he might have fared no better than all the
other men who had been presented to her, had talked and danced with her,
and had gone away, leaving her life serenely calm as before. But Paul
had been very assiduous, and had lost no time. Moreover, he loved her,
and was in earnest about it; so that when, on that memorable day in the
park, he had spoken at last, she had accepted his speech and had sealed
her answer.

She believed that she loved him with all her heart, but she was new to
love, and the waking sentiment was not yet a passion. It was only a
sensation, and though its strength was great enough to influence
Hermione's life, it had not yet acquired any great stability. A more
impulsive nature would have been more suddenly moved, but Hermione's
love needed time for its development, and the time had been very short.
Since she had admitted that she loved Paul, she had not seen him until
the eve of his brother's reappearance; and now, owing to Madame Patoff's
skillful management, she talked with Alexander more frequently than with
Paul. Alexander was apparently doing his best to make her love him, and
the world said that he was succeeding. Hermione herself was startled
when she tried to understand her own feelings, for she saw that a great
change had taken place in her, and she could neither account for it nor
assure herself where it would end. It would be unjust to blame her, or
to say that she was unfaithful. She