But
most of all it was the exquisite fastidiousness of her thoughts that had
begun to inthral him--that crystal clear intelligence, so direct, so
generous--the splendid wholesome attitude toward life--and her dauntless
faith in the goodness of it.
Breathing deeply, he drew in the fragrance of her memory, and the
bitterness of things was dulled with every quiet respiration.
He smiled again, too; how utterly had his sister mistaken their frank
companionship! How stupidly superfluous was it to pretend to detect, in
their comradeship, the commonplaces of sentiment--as though such a girl
as Eileen Erroll were of the common self-conscious mould--as though in
their cordial understanding there was anything less simple than
community of taste and the mutual attraction of intelligence!
Then, the memory of what his sister had said drove the smile from his
face and he straightened up impatiently. Love! What unfortunate
hallucination had obsessed Nina to divine what did not exist?--what need
not exist? How could a woman like his sister fall into such obvious
error; how could she mistake such transparent innocence, such visible
freedom from motive in this young girl's pure friendship for himself?
And, as for him, he had never thought of Eileen--he could not bring
himself to think of her so materially or sentimentally.
Pages:
376
377
378
379
380
381
382
383
384
385
386
387
388
389
390
391
392
393
394
395
396
397
398
399
400