He leaned back against the jamb of the chimney, vainly trying to dispel his anger and bring his mind under the command of reason.

He looked at Susannah steadily; she was somewhat pale with weariness and excitement; she could never be other than beautiful.

How perfect was the moulding of the strong firm chin, of the curving nostrils! The breadth of the cheek bone, the height and breadth of the brow, beautiful as they were in their pink and white tinting, conveyed to him almost more strongly the sense of mental completeness than of outward beauty.

He did not dare to look at her questioning eyes; his glance travelled over the amber ringlets, damp and tossed just now, drooping as if to say "Susannah is lonely and perplexed, and she needs your help." Ephraim, proud, and mortified to think how ill he compared with her, laughed fiercely within himself.

This was a young woman of distinction, and just now she knew it so little that she sat looking up with respect at his ill-conditioned self.