“It seems mean in me to tell you such a thing, but I do not know of any other way for your sake and hers. I would do any thing to keep you from doing a heartless thing.”—Another heartless thing, she almost said.—“I would do any thing for Sue, as I would for Dine if she had been led into trusting in a lie.”
His face became perplexed, uncomprehending.
“Are you trying to tell me that Sue Greyson thinks that I am intending to marry her and that I have given her an occasion to believe it? You are warning me against trifling with Sue?”
“Yes.”
“How do you know that she thinks so?”
“Nonsense! How do I know any thing?”
“I should as soon have thought—” he ended with a laugh.
“A woman’s heart is not made of grains of sand to be blown hither and thither by a man’s breath,” she said very earnestly.
“Miss Tessa, you accuse me wrongfully. I have been kind to Sue—I have intended to be kind. Her life at home is too quiet for her, she has few friends and no education; you call me heartless. I thought that I was most brotherly and thoughtful.”
His sincerity almost reassured her. Had she misjudged him?