"Suppose you try me," his companion said; "speaking generally, your thoughts do interest me."
"Well, I was thinking of a woman," said Mowbray.
"A woman! Oh! then your time, in your own opinion at least, was thrown away."
"Worse," said Mowbray gloomily; "worse by far."
"How?"
"It is useless, Charles, to touch upon the subject; let it rest."
"No; I wish you to tell me, if I am not intrusive, what woman you were at the moment honoring with a sigh."
Mowbray raised his head calmly, and yielding like all lovers to the temptation to pour into the bosom of his friend those troubled thoughts which oppressed his heart, said to his companion:
"The woman we were speaking of the other day."
"You have not told me her name," said Hoffland.