Then
she _was_ angry, but then she was in the full flush of health and
beauty, and he was her would-be lover. There had been nothing to wound
or humiliate her in his love-making; he had come loyally to offer her
his hand and all that belonged to him, which of wealth and honor was no
mean portion. But she had been deeply stung by a man daring to remember
that she was free, and there was only one husband and lover in the world
for her. Now that, as it seemed to her, beauty and love were so far
removed from her, it was almost a pleasure to remember that she had been
beloved.
"I have passed your door a hundred times," he says, "and never been
able to summon up courage enough to ask for you."
"But to-day you were braver," she utters, looking at him with something
of the old smile and manner.
"I thought perhaps you had a good many dull hours now Vansittart is so
much away."
"How do you know that he is much away?" asks Virginia, feeling vaguely
hurt at his words and tone.
"Because I so often meet him out."
"Where do you meet him?"
"Oh, at different places. Chiefly at Mrs. Devereux's."
Lord Harford looks full in Virginia's face, and she, who is so quick,
cannot fail to see that his eyes and tone are intended to convey some
meaning.
"Mrs. Devereux?" she says, inquiringly. "You mean his cousin.
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