I offer myself to you as refuge in the hour of trouble, a counsellor in perplexity, a brother always waiting in the background of your life to protect or serve you.

Of course, it is quite possible you may never have need of protection or service--God knows, I wish you all happiness--but there are not many lives quite free from trouble, and the day may come in which you will want a friend." "If it ever does, I will remember your goodness." Gilbert looked scrutinisingly at Marian Holbrook as she stood before him with the cold gray light of the sunless day full upon her face.

He wanted to read the story of her life in that beautiful face, if it were possible.

He wanted to know whether she was happy with the man who had stolen her from him.
She was very pale, but that might be fairly attributed to the agitation caused by his presence.

Gilbert fancied that there was a careworn look in her face, and that her beauty had faded a little since those peaceful days at Lidford, when these two had wasted the summer hours in idle talk under the walnut trees in the Captain's garden.