‘Theodora,’ said he, abruptly, ‘I cannot help it; I must say it!’
‘Well?’
‘I do not think you feel as you ought towards your brother’s wife.’
‘John has told you this?’
‘No; I have observed it. You had set your affections on Arthur; and thinking he had thrown himself away, you do not resist the common propensity to hate a sister-in-law.’
‘You like to provoke me,’ said Theodora; ‘but,’ and her voice trembled, ‘it is unkind to bring this up—the pain and grief of my life, when I was happy and forgetful for once.’
‘Far, far from unkindness. It is because I cannot bear to see you unhappy.’
‘I trusted no one saw that.’
‘I have known you too long, and thought of you too much, not to be grieved at the sight of your forced spirits and suppressed sorrow.’
It would have angered her from another; from him it touched her to find how closely and kindly he had watched her.