“‘He only cares for me when others are not by,’ I thought, and my heart began to swell with jealous emotion. But just before she left something occurred that fanned the envious spark into a flame.
“Her white hand was resting on the little table that stood beside the couch. There was a diamond ring on one finger that flashed as she moved; presently she stretched it out to Raby, with a bewitching smile.
“‘Oh, what lovely lilies of the valley,’ she exclaimed, pointing to the flowers; ‘they are the first I have seen this year. I adore lilies, they are perfectly exquisite. Do let me have them, Mr. Ferrers. I know they grew in the garden, and I shall keep them as a memento of Sandycliffe and the dear Grange. Come, you must not let me break the tenth commandment and covet any longer,’ and the fair, girlish hand rested near the flowers as she spoke.
“Raby looked embarrassed and hesitated.
“I had gathered those lilies for him before the dew was off them. They grew in a little nook of the Redmond grounds; they were his favorite flowers, and I had walked all those miles to hunt for them.
“‘Come,’ she said, ‘surely you will not refuse me, Mr. Ferrers,’ and her smile was very winning; and Raby, though reluctant, laid the little spray of lilies in her hand. He could hardly have done otherwise, but I was too young to know that.
“‘There, she has gone at last, the pretty chatterbox,’ he exclaimed, with a yawn of real or pretended weariness as the door closed upon our visitors. ‘Crystal, my child, come here: I have not heard your voice for the last hour. Tell me what you think of Miss Vyvie; is she not a lively young lady?’
“I made him no answer. I was past it.
“Oh, if I had only gone silently out of the room to recover myself. If he had not spoken to me just then. He started when he saw my face.
“‘Crystal, my dear child, what is the matter?’ and then—then it burst forth. Oh, my God, I must have been beside myself. Surely some demon must have entered into my childish heart before I could have poured forth that torrent of passionate invective and reproach.