He breaks away from her, frowning still.
It is quite plain to her that she has offended him. But even as he leaves her he looks back; a sort of grim smile illumines his face.
"I note that in your 'hoping' you have put Miss Bolton before me; that is as it should be. She is a sworn admirer of yours. Did you know it?"
"No. But she appeals to me—I don't know why—but I feel that I could love her," says Margaret, in short sentences as if thinking, and as if a little surprised at herself. Suddenly she breaks into a more immediate feeling. "Oh, Maurice, love her too! Try, try to love her; she is so young. Her very soul is in your keeping. Be good to her; she is a mere baby. If you neglect her, forget her——"
Maurice casts a queer look at her.
"'Is thy servant a dog?'" quotes he.
* * * * *
Margaret moves slowly away. She had, when Maurice met her, been bent on going upstairs to her books and her thoughts; but now she turns backward. She feels as if she wants something. Perhaps she finds it—unconsciously, however—when she stops before a tall, soldierly-looking man, who, seeing her, comes to meet her with evident pleasure.
"You look disturbed!" says Colonel Neilson.
He is, as I have said, a tall man, with a kindly face, and deep eyes of a dark colour. There is nothing very special about him; he is not, strictly speaking, handsome, yet he was, last season, one of the most popular men in town.