Scarcely had he, on his departure for London, turned his back on Thornwick, ere he found he was leaving one whom yet he could not leave behind him.

Every hour of his absence he found his thoughts with the sweet face and ministering hands of his humble pupil.
Therewith, however, it was nowise revealed to him that he was in love with her.

He thought of her only as his younger sister, loving, clinging, obedient.

So dear was she to him, he thought, that he would rejoice to secure her happiness at any cost to himself.

_Any_ cost?
he asked--and reflected.