He uttered these with an earnest softness that surprised Miss Vernon, so complete was the transformation it created in his look and manner.
"I never accused you, even in thought, of such cruelty," she returned, anxious to relieve his evident anxiety, "so say no more about it, I entreat."
"But the gesture of repugnance, with which you turned from me, I cannot forget it."
"Did I," said Kate, blushing at the idea of having wounded the feelings of any one; "I was unaware, but, if you reflect for a moment, you will acknowledge it was natural, just then, you know I felt sick at heart."
Lord Effingham's dark cheek flushed for an instant, he bit his lips.
"Yet you say you forgive me."
"And I do," she returned, "I could not resent an unintentional offence."
He smiled, a very different smile from those that usually darkened rather than illuminated his countenance, and Kate, thought, "perhaps that might have been the expression of it in childhood."
He held out his thin, nervous, resolute looking hand, with a look of entreaty and an expressive—