Mr.Hardy stammered a little and tried to say that it would be no trouble at all, but the effort was not a brilliant success considered as a compliment.

He longed to stay, and yet hated and feared to stay.

This anomalous frame of mind was new; it confused and staggered him.

He seemed to be swayed by an external impulse, and resented it with miserable self-deceit.

But he stayed.
Harry did not greatly enrich the conversation during the hour spent in Mrs.Haddon's kitchen, but he found his eyes drawn to the handsome profile of Christina Shine, standing out in its soft fairness against the dark wall like a wonderfully carven cameo.