He sat gazing into her eyes, for her words had struck a chord in his breast. They seemed to rouse up in him the thoughts and theories which had been set aside during the months of her illness while she had been his only care; and with an eager burst of fervid passion in his tones, he exclaimed:
“If I distinguished myself in some way—if I set men talking about my discoveries, and made my name famous, would you listen to me then?”
The same mocking light was in her eye, the same half-contemptuous smile played for a moment about the corners of her lips, as she said, in a low voice:
“Wait and see.”
“Wait? I will wait,” he cried eagerly; “and you shall share my triumph. Leo, you do not know, you cannot tell, what thoughts I have—what investigations I am making into a science which is full of wonders waiting to be discovered. You have roused once more in me the great desire to win fame: to make researches that shall benefit humanity for all time to come. I can, I will, win these secrets from Nature, and we will together go hand-in-hand, learning more and more. I shall succeed!” he cried excitedly. “Ah! you smile. You do give me hope.”
She did not speak, but veiled her eyes, to hide the mocking light within them.
“My darling—my love!” he exclaimed.
She drew back from his embrace.
“No, no,” she said. “We are only friends.”
“Yes, friends,” he cried—“friends now.”