I have a great deal to get into the day; and you yourself must be off by noon.' 'By noon I shall be.' This visit had been happily timed.

Sympathy was essential to Egremont as often as he suffered from the caprices of his temperament, and in grave trouble it was a danger for him to be left companionless.

He was highly nervous, and the tumult of his imagination affected his bodily state in a degree uncommon in men, though often seen in delicately organised women.

When Mrs.Ormonde left him he felt relieved in mind, but physically so brought down that he stretched himself upon the sofa.
He remained there for more than an hour.
How much better, he was saying to himself, not to have told Mrs.
Ormonde I That would have been a greater folly than anything yet.

No irreparable harm was as yet done; to confess a mere state of mind would have been to fill his friend with fears wholly groundless, and to fix a lasting torture in his own memory.