She did not seem at all conscious that she was being observed; although she doubtless knew that I was looking at her, in that instinctive way common to her sex, in which they manage to take cognisance of everything going on around them, without so much as raising an eyelid.

Indeed, she told me afterwards that she had been well aware of my watch, and added that she thought me "very rude, too;" but, just now, she took no notice of my looks and longings, as far as I could see.
It was not until the close of the service, and when she and her mother were leaving the pew, that I obtained a glance, a look, which dwelt in my memory for days and days.

She had brought with her into church a tiny spray of mignonette, and this she left behind her on the seat close to where she had been sitting.

I perceived it, and taking it up, made as if to restore it to its lawful owner.
A half smile faintly played across her slightly parted lips, as she looked at me for an instant, an amused sparkle in her clear, grey eyes, and then turned away with a polite inclination and shake of her little head, in refusal of the mignonette, which I have kept ever since.

But that smile! Her whole face lit up, gaining just the colour and expression which it appeared to lack.