“Well–that would not be so bad, you know,” said Ronald with a certain air of resignation.
After this conversation Ronald became reconciled to the situation. Joe’s remark that he would be able to love some one else very much without being–any the less fond of herself made him reflect, and he came to the conclusion that the case was conceivable after all. He therefore agreed within himself that he would think no more about the matter for the present, but would take what came in his way, and trust that Joe would ultimately change her mind. But he went to Mrs. Wyndham’s that evening with a firm determination to dislike John Harrington to the best of his ability.
A middle-aged man with red hair! Five-and-thirty was undoubtedly middle-age. Short, too. But Joe had blushed, and there was no doubt about it; this was the man who had won her affections. Ronald would hate him cordially.
But John refused to be hated. His manner was easy and courteous, but not gentle. He was evidently no lady’s man. He talked to the men more than to the women, and he was utterly without affectation. Indeed, he was not in the least like what Ronald had expected.
Moreover, Ronald was seated next to Sybil Brandon at dinner, and drove every one away who tried to disturb the tête-à-tête he succeeded in procuring with her afterwards. He was surprised at his own conduct, but he somehow connected it in his mind with his desire to hate Harrington. It was not very clear to himself, and it certainly would have been incomprehensible to any one else, but the presence of Harrington stimulated him in his efforts to amuse Miss Brandon.
Sybil, too, in her quiet way, was very willing to be amused, and she found in Ronald Surbiton an absolute freshness of ideas that gave her a new sense of pleasure. Her affair with Vancouver had made a deep impression on her mind, and her mother’s death soon afterwards had had the effect of withdrawing her entirely from the world. It was no wonder, therefore, that she liked this young Englishman, so different from most of the men she knew best. It was natural, too, that he should want to talk to her, for she was the only young girl present. At last, as Ronald began to feel that intimacy which sometimes grows out of a simple conversation between two sympathetic people, he turned to the subject he had most in mind, if not most in his heart.
“You and my cousin are very intimate, Miss Brandon, I believe?” he said.
“Yes–I have grown very fond of her in a few weeks.” Sybil wondered whether Ronald was going to make confidences. It seemed to her rather early in the acquaintance.
“Yes, she told me,” said Ronald. “She is very fond of you, too; I went to see her this morning.”
“I suppose you go every day,” said Sybil, smiling.