been a child, stroking his hair and kissing it,
whispering to him, assuring him that her love was his, that she was
unchanged. She told him that it was not her fault. A little while before
the feast the Baron had suddenly broken out into a fit of temper, such
as she had never seen him indulge in previously; the cause was pressure
put upon him by his creditors. Unpleasant truths had escaped him;
amongst the rest, his dislike, his positive disapproval of the tacit
engagement they had entered into.

He declared that if the least outward sign of it appeared before the
guests that were expected, he would order Felix to leave the place, and
cancel the hearth-friendship, no matter what the consequence. It was
clear that he was set upon a wealthy and powerful alliance for her; that
the Earl was either coming, or would send his son, he knew; and he knew
that nothing so repels a possible suitor as the rumour that the lady has
a previous engagement. In short, he made it a condition of Felix's
presence being tolerated at all, that Aurora should carefully abstain
from showing the slightest attention to him; that she should ignore his
existence.

Nor could she prevent Durand following her without a marked refusal to
listen to his conversation, a refusal which would most certainly at once
have brought about the dreaded explosion. She thought it better, under
the circumstances, to preserve peace, lest intercourse between her and
Felix should be entirely broken off for ever. This was the secret
history of the apparent indifference and neglect which had so deeply
hurt him. The explanation, accompanied as it was with so many tender
expressions and caresses, soothed him; he returned her kisses and became
calmer. He could not doubt her, for in his heart he had suspected
something of the kind long since.

Yet it was not so much the explanation itself, nor even the love she
poured upon him, as the mere fact of her presence so near that brought
him to himself. The influence of her steadfast nature, of her clear,
broad, straightforward view of things, the decision of her character,
the high, unselfish motives which animated her, all together supplied
that which was wanting in himself. His indecision, his too
impressionable disposition, which checked and stayed the force of his
talent, and counteracted the determination of a naturally iron will;
these, as it were, were relieved; in a word, with her he became himself.

How many times he had