instant, a flushed, smiling
face to him. He was about to speak, but she turned away again,
exclaiming:
"Quick! I've promised to meet Father Stafford at twelve, and I mustn't
keep him waiting. I wouldn't miss it for the world!"
Eugene was checked; Claudia saw it. What she thought is not revealed,
but they returned home in somewhat gloomy silence. And it is a comfort
to the narrator, and it is to be hoped to the reader, to think that Mr.
Eugene Lane got something besides pleasure out of his discreditable
performance and his lamentable want of proper feeling.
CHAPTER V.
How Three Gentlemen Acted for the Best.
The schemers schemed and the waiters upon events waited with
considerable patience, but although the days wore on, the situation
showed little signs of speedy development. Matters were in fact in a
rather puzzling position. The friendship and intimacy between Claudia
and Stafford continued to increase. Eugene, whether in penitence or in
pique, had turned with renewed zeal to his proper duties, and was no
longer content to allow Kate to be monopolized by Haddington. The
latter's attentions had indeed been in danger of becoming too marked,
and it is, perhaps, not uncharitable to attribute Kate's apparent
avoidance of them as much to considerations of expediency as of
principle. At the same time, there was no coolness between Eugene and
Haddington, and when his guest presented a valid excuse and proposed
departure, Eugene met the suggestion with an obviously sincere
opposition. Sir Roderick really could not make out what was going on.
Now Sir Roderick disliked being puzzled; it conveyed a reflection on his
acuteness, and he therefore was a sharer in the perturbation of mind
that evidently afflicted some of his companions, in spite of their
decorous behavior. But contentment was not wanting in some hearts.
Morewood was happy in the pursuit of his art and in arguments with
Stafford; and Bob Territon had found refuge in an energetic attempt to
organize and train a Manor team to do battle with the village cricket
club, headed as it had been for thirty years past by the Rector.
Moreover, Stafford himself still seemed tranquil. It would have been
difficult for most men to fail to understand their true position in such
a case more fully than he, in spite of his usual penetration of vision,
had succeeded in doing. But he was now in a strange country, and the
landmarks of feeling whereby the experienced travel
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