She had never heard him talk of his relations, had indeed supposed that he stood almost alone in the world; but there was no reason that it should be so, except his silence on the subject.

She watched him for some moments in silence, as he stood leaning against the opposite angle of the chimney-piece waiting for her to speak.
He was looking very ill, much changed since she had seen him last, haggard and worn, with the air of a man who had not slept properly for many nights.

There was an absent far-away look in his eyes: and Adela Branston felt all at once that her presence was nothing to him; that this desperate step which she had taken had no more effect upon him than the commonest event of every-day life; in a word, that he did not love her.

A cold deathlike feeling came over her as she thought this.

She had set her heart upon this man's love, and had indeed some justification for supposing that it was hers.