His situation might
be held to have improved when Mr. Tramore was taken so gravely ill
that with regard to his recovery those about him left their eyes to
speak for their lips; and in the light of the poor gentleman's recent
death it was doubtless better than it had ever been.
He was only a quarter of an hour with the girl, but this gave him
time to take the measure of it. After he had spoken to her about her
bereavement, very much as an especially mild missionary might have
spoken to a beautiful Polynesian, he let her know that he had learned
from her companions the very strong step she was about to take. This
led to their spending together ten minutes which, to her mind, threw
more light on his character than anything that had ever passed
between them. She had always felt with him as if she were standing
on an edge, looking down into something decidedly deep. To-day the
impression of the perpendicular shaft was there, but it was rather an
abyss of confusion and disorder than the large bright space in which
she had figured everything as ranged and pigeon-holed, presenting the
appearance of the labelled shelves and drawers at a chemist's. He
discussed without an invitation to discuss, he appealed without a
right to appeal.
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