For she might be free; then she should become
his wife: she might be already bound; in that case,--again the terrible
shadow darkened his face for an instant. Then he recollected himself,
and his eyes, seeking a visible object, rested on her face a little sad
with its dwelling upon her unfinished sentence which would have spoken
of her mistakes. A flash of perception revealed the truth to him; he saw
the gulf that yawned between his nature and hers, and, almost cursing
her for being so above him, there came to him a strange longing to feel
some touch upon him which would give his face the calmness that under
its pathos he read upon hers. It was no determination to struggle to a
higher plane, no desire for it, but only the old cry for some one to be
sent to cool the tip of his tongue because the flame tormented him. It
was not, however, an appreciable lapse of time before he again felt his
feet upon the floor and thrilled under the light touch upon his arm. The
insight was over, the whirl was over; he was one of the guests talking
to his host's probable daughter-in-law. He went on with his subject.
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