"
She turned upon him a startled look, for he seemed the very embodiment
of temptation. But she only said coldly:
"Hush! Mr. Van Berg is about to sing," and she stepped so far into
the lighted room that the artist saw her.
When Miss Burton rose from the piano she did not return to her
seat in the parlor, but stood in the shadow of the door-way leading
into the hall. The thought of her hymn had come so directly from
her heart, that her eyes were slightly moist with an emotion that
was more plainly manifest on many other faces. The old gentleman
who had asked her to sing had taken off his spectacles and was
openly wiping his eyes.
Stanton, ashamed to have her see the feeling she had evoked,
turned his back upon her and slowly walked down the corridor. She
misunderstood his act and thought it caused by indifference or
dislike for the sentiment she had expressed. He had seemed to her
thus far only a superficial man of the world, and this act struck
her as characteristic. But beyond this passing impression she
did not give him a thought, and turned, with genuine interest, to
listen to Van Berg who had said to her:
"I remember a few simple verses which have no merit save that they
express what I wish rather than what I am.
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