At a little distance were standing two young men, engaged, as their faces showed, in facetious colloquy; as soon as she observed them, Marian's eyes fell, but the next moment she looked again in that direction.

Her face had wholly changed; she wore a look of timid expectancy.
The men were moving towards her, still talking and laughing.

She turned to the shelves, and affected to search for a book.

The voices drew near, and one of them was well known to her; now she could hear every word; now the speakers were gone by.

Was it possible that Mr Milvain had not recognised her?
She followed him with her eyes, and saw him take a seat not far off he must have passed without even being aware of her.
She went back to her place and for some minutes sat trifling with a pen.
When she made a show of resuming work, it was evident that she could no longer apply herself as before.