"She is great in reserve forces,"
he said to himself, swearing under his breath that she was growing
more fascinating every time that he saw her, and for this he made
opportunities as well as found them. Stephen Archdale with his
alternations of gloom and gayety and the ubiquitousness necessary to a
host, had begun to find this direction of Edmonson's eyes a matter that
roused some slight speculation. His glances followed the arrowy glances
of his guest to see what marks they made. But he saw nothing, except
that Miss Royal avoided Edmonson as much as she could in courtesy, and
that she seldom met his eyes fully. From these things both young men
drew their conclusions, which were somewhat alike, and should both have
been subject to correction. More than once they measured one another
covertly, and from the heart of him who feared that he had lost her
there stretched out toward the other a terrible shadow which in the
wavering of his changing thoughts grew, and lessened, and grew again,
and sometimes reached forward and clutched with its hideous hands, and
then drew back, and crouched, and waited.
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