e post until he was quite lost from view around
the turn of the road. He did not look back, yet she thought that he
might have. She slowly turned and as slowly began to walk towards the
house, there to resume the duties which had suffered a pleasant
interruption.

Meanwhile, she tried to analyze this young man. He was rather deep, of
few words on any given subject, but wholly non-communicative as regards
himself. He perhaps was possessed of more intuition than his manner
would reveal, although he gave every appearance of arriving at his
conclusions by the sheer force of logic. His words and deeds never
betrayed his whole mind, of that she was certain, yet he could assert
himself rather forcibly when put to the test, as in the painful incident
at the Coffee House. He would never suffer from soul-paralysis, thought
she, for want of decision or resolution, for both were written full
upon him.

That she was strangely attracted to him she knew very well, but why and
how she was unable to discover. This was but their third meeting, yet
she felt as if she had known him all her life, so frank, so unreserved,
so open, so secure did she feel in his presence. It seemed the most
natural thing in the world for her to have waved her hand in salute to
him that morning as he passed; she did it with the same unconcern as if
she had known him all her life. She felt it within her, that was all,
and could give no other possible interpretation to her action.

There was something prepossessing about him. Perhaps it was his faculty
for doing the unexpected. Most women desire to meet a man who is
possessed of a distinctive individuality, who lends continual interest
to them by his departure from the trite and commonplace. What Stephen
might say or do was an entirely unknown quantity until it had actually
taken place, and this attracted her on the instant, whether she was
conscious of it or not. His manner, too, was affable, and gave him an
air at once pleasing and good-natured. He never flattered, yet said most
agreeable things, putting one perfectly at ease and inspiring sympathy
and courage. He bore himself well; erect, manly, dignified, without
ostentation or display. His seriousness, his evenness, his gravity, his
constancy and his decision stamped him with a certain authority, a man
of marked personality and character.

So she mused as she entered the door, her thoughts in a lofty hegira to
the far off land of make believe--her better