Something in his voice and eyes went to her heart. She colored painfully, and stammered:
"They will be here directly, and Ethel will be delighted to find you here."
"But—you, Precious—what a cold welcome you have given me, not even a touch of your little hand."
He saw her young bosom heave with secret emotion. The color came and went like the rosy dawn light on her cheek.
"I—I—beg pardon. I did not think," she faltered, with what seemed to him frosty courtesy. He burst forth bitterly:
"Perhaps my altered prospects have changed your esteem for me. Between the heir of an earldom and a poor man there is a vast difference. It can even alter friendship."
Precious looked at him in surprise and indignation, and answered quickly:
"Not friendship, only its imitation. Nothing can change true friendship, mamma says; but she has also told me that nothing is so rare in the world as imperishable friendship. But between true friends no change of fortune can make any difference."
Her earnest blue eyes were raised to his with sudden frankness as she confessed: "I did not offer you my hand because—I was not sure you felt any friendship for me. You—you parted from me in anger."