That from Mrs.Woodward came first and told the tale.

Strange to say, though Harry had studiously rejected from his mind all idea of hope as regarded Gertrude, nevertheless the first tidings of her betrothal with Alaric struck him as though he had still fancied himself a favoured lover.

He felt as though, in his absence, he had been robbed of a prize which was all his own, as though a chattel had been taken from him to which he had a full right; as though all the Hampton party, Mrs.Woodward included, were in a conspiracy to defraud him the moment his back was turned.
The blow was so severe that it laid him prostrate at once.

He could not sob away his sorrow on his mother's bosom; no one could teach him how to bear his grief with meek resignation.

He had never spoken of his love to his friends at Normansgrove.