But she could not with prudence do anything expressly to prevent it; while she might even please Mr.
Redmain a little, if she were supposed to have used influence on his side.

That, however, must not seem to Hesper.

Sepia did not yet know in fact upon what ground she had to build.
For some time she had been trying to get nearer to Hesper, but--much like Hesper's experience with her--had found herself strangely baffled, she could not tell how--the barrier being simply the half innocence, half ignorance, of Hesper.

When minds are not the same, words do not convey between them.
She gave a ringing laugh, throwing back her head, and showing all her fine teeth.
"You want to know what I would do with a man I hated, as you _say_ you hate Mr.Redmain ?--I would send for him at once--not wait for him to come to me--and entreat him, _as he loved me_, to deliver me from the dire necessity of obeying my father.

If he were a gentleman, as I hope he may be, he would manage to get me out of it somehow, and wouldn't compromise me a hair's breadth.