saw them widen with tears for a moment; and he looked to
see if her companion were watching her, but his whole attention was
given to the cigarette he was rolling. In a few moments, at the man's
suggestion, they rose and walked away.

Noel noticed that she looked at no one as she passed along on her
husband's arm; but he interpreted this to be not shyness nor
self-consciousness, but rather a sort of instinct against giving any
one that opportunity of looking into her heart through her eyes.

One morning a new mood came over Noel, and he asked Miller to introduce
him. The latter complied with alacrity. Noel had no sooner bowed his
acknowledgments than he looked at Mrs. Dallas, and addressed her in the
Italian tongue. The light that came into her face at the familiar sounds
made his heart quicken. They stood some time by the railing, the group
of four,--Miller talking in a desultory way to Dallas, while Noel spoke,
in animated, if somewhat halting Italian, to the young wife. There was
quite a strong breeze blowing; and some dark ribbons, which tied her fur
collar, fluttered and sounded on the air. She held to the rail with both
little smooth-gloved hands; and her heavy cloth dress clung close about
her, and was blown backward in strong, swaying folds. They talked of
Italy, where Noel had once lived for a while, and of pictures, art, and
music, for which she had an enthusiasm which made the subjects as
interesting to Noel as his greater knowledge made them to her. He found
her a genuine girl in her feelings, and at once perceived her absolute
inexperience of the world. Her convent breeding came out frequently in
a sort of quaint politeness of manner, and it provoked him a little
to find that he was being treated with a sort of deference due to a
superior in age or in experience. He felt himself aged indeed in
comparison with her vibrating youth and the innocence of her simple
little life, which, up to this point, had plainly been that of a child;
and he dreaded to think how soon and how suddenly she might grow old.
She seemed in a world of mystery now, as one who had utterly lost her
bearings, and was too dazed to see where she was or what were the
objects and influences that surrounded her. Out of this shadow his
presence seemed for the moment to have lifted her; and as he talked to
her of these subjects, round which the whole ardor of her nature
centred, she seemed a different creature. The restraint and severity
disapp