To be sure, nothing could have come of it.

Milvain was the kind of man who weighed opportunities; every step he took would be regulated by considerations of advantage; at all events that was the impression his character had made upon Yule.

Any hopes that Marian might have been induced to form would assuredly have ended in disappointment.

It was kindness to interpose before things had gone so far.
Henceforth, if Milvain's name was unavoidable, it should be mentioned just like that of any other literary man.

It seemed very unlikely indeed that Marian would continue to think of him with any special and personal interest.