She looked at him earnestly, and whispered in a low voice, while the lashes fell over her eyes, sweeping the tears downward in fresh gushes. "What was it that you said? Something that you could guess, was not that it? Now tell me all you guess. What is it that you think?"
"Nothing that should overwhelm you in this manner," said Robert, struggling against the convictions her agitation was calculated to produce. "I thought—I have long thought—that you were greatly attached to Mr. Leicester, more than a ward usually is to her guardian."
"You are with him so much—surely you did not think that my love—for I do not deny it, Robert—was unwelcome or unsought?"
Robert hesitated; he could not find it in his heart to give utterance to his thoughts.
"No, I did not think that," he said; "but Mr. Leicester is a strange man, so much older than we are—so much wiser. I can fathom neither his motives nor his feelings."
"And I—I have felt this so often—that is, of late," said Florence, "at times I am almost afraid of him, and yet this very fear has its fascination."
"Yes," answered Robert, thoughtless of the meaning that might be given to his words, "the bird shivers with fear even as the serpent lures it, and in this lies some subtle mystery; for while the poor thing seems to know its danger, the knowledge yields it no power of resistance. Here lies the serpent with its eyes burning and its jaws apart, exposing all its venom; but the spell works in spite of this."
"Hush! hush!" said Florence, with a look of terror, "this is a cruel comparison. It makes me shudder!"
"I did not intend it as a comparison," answered Robert. "With you it can never be one, and with me such ideas would be very ungrateful, applied to my oldest friend. I wish to heaven, no thought against him would ever enter my head again."
"Conquer them—never breathe them even to yourself!" said Florence, with sudden impetuosity. "They have killed me—those weary, base suspicions—not mine! not mine! Oh, I am so thankful that they were not formed in my heart?—they were whispered to me—forced on me. I would not believe them—but the evil thing is here. I have no strength to cast it out alone, and he never comes to help me."