And his heart was sad within him when he thought that he had vexed her,--loving her as he did with all his heart, but with a heart that was never demonstrative.

When she was unhappy he was miserable, though he would hardly know the cause of his misery.

Her ridicule and raillery he could bear, though they stung him; but her sorrow, if ever she were sorrowful, or her sullenness, if ever she were sullen, upset him altogether.

He was in truth so soft of heart that he could not bear the discomfort of the one person in the world who seemed to him to be near to him.

He had expressly asked her for her sympathy in the business he had on hand,--thereby going much beyond his usual coldness of manner.