His morality, in fact, no one doubted; the suspicions Mrs.
Hannaford had once entertained when his coldness to her began, she now knew to be baseless.

Absorbed in meditations upon bloodshed and havoc, he held high the ideal of chastity, and, in company agreeable to him, could allude to it as the safeguard of civil life.
When he withdrew into the house, Mrs.Hannaford followed him.

Olga, always nervous when her father was near, sat silent.

Piers Otway, with a new reluctance, was rising to return to his studies, when Miss Derwent checked him with a look.
"What a perfect afternoon!" "It is, indeed," he murmured, his eyes falling.
"Olga, are you too tired for another walk ?" "I?
Oh, no! I should enjoy it." "Do you think"-- Irene looked roguishly at her cousin--"Mr.Otway would forgive us if we begged him to come, too ?" Olga smiled, and glanced at the young man with certainty that he would excuse himself.
"We can but ask," she said.
And Piers, to her astonishment, at once assented.

He did so with sudden colour in his cheeks, avoiding Olga's look.
So they set forth together; and, little by little, Piers grew remarkably talkative.