It was as if she were numb to the attraction of men--but this one had qualities which appealed to her.

Her own countrymen were never cultivated enough in literature, and were too absorbed in stocks and shares to be able to take flights of sentiment and imagination with her.

Lord Fordyce understood in a second--and they could discuss any subject with a refined subtlety which enchanted her.
Henry had not spent his life maneuvring love affairs with women, and was not very clever at manipulating circumstance.

He fretted and fumed at not getting his desired tete-a-tete, but with all the will was too hedged in by conventionality and a sense of politeness to force matters, as his friend, Michael Arranstoun, would have done with high-handed unconcern.

Thus, his cure at Carlsbad was drawing to a close before he again spent an afternoon quite alone with Sabine Howard.