"I must hasten to the dining-room, and I fear I don't look very calm. Good-bye; remember and be brave; others there are who have no more a bed of roses than yourself."
"God bless you, good-bye; and I implore you, say No to him. I speak, as you know, from experience," he whispers, with a tight hand-clasp.
CHAPTER XV.
THE TREE OF KNOWLEDGE.
"Your visitor is a strikingly handsome man, Mrs. Gower," said Mr. Dale, coming from the window to the table; "we shall be losing you one of these days as—Mrs. Gower," he continued, noticing by her pallor and the light in her eyes that she had been feeling intensely.
"He is wondrously so; and as well, what is more perilous to the hearts of our sex, he possesses a rare fascination of manner."
"I have been telling Henry not to jump at conclusions, for, perhaps Mr. King is married," said Mrs. Dale, curiously.
"He is, dear; but your husband is not one of those absurd beings who imagine all one's men friends to be possible suitors."
"Far from it, Mrs. Gower: I am a believer in men and women friendships, and if, in the numerous mistakes society makes, she would obliterate her opposition to such friendships, she would have fewer matrimonial blunders to chronicle."