’Isupposethat’saboutall。Don’tletthemquarrelwithyouhereifyoucanhelpit。OfcourseatLongbarnstheywon’tlikeitforatime。Oh，——ifitcouldhavebeendifferent！’Thenhedroppedherhand，andturninghisbackquicklyuponher，wentawayalongthepath。
Shehadexpectedandhadalmostwishedthatheshouldkissher。
Agirl’scheekisneversoholytoherselfasitistoherlover，——ifhedoloveher。Therewouldhavebeensomethingofreconciliation，somethingofapromiseoffuturekindnessinakiss，whichevenFerdinandwouldnothavegrudged。Itwould，forher，haverobbedthepartingofthatbitternessofpainwhichhiswordshadgiventoit。Astoallthathehadmadenocalculation。butthebitternesswasthereforhim，andhecouldhavedonenothingthatwouldhaveexpelledit。
Sheweptbitterlyasshereturnedtothehouse。Theremighthavebeencauseforjoy。Itwasclearenoughthatherfather，thoughhehadshownnosignofyielding，wasneverthelesspreparedtoyield。ItwasherfatherwhohadcausedArthurFletchertotakehimselfoff，asaloverreallydismissed。But，atthismoment，shecouldnotbringherselftolookatthataspectoftheaffair。
HermindwouldreverttoallthosechoicestmomentsinherearlyyearsinwhichshehadbeenhappywithArthurFletcher，inwhichshehadfirstlearnedtolovehim，andhadthentaughtherselftounderstandbysomeconfusedandperplexedlessonthatshedidnotlovehimasmenandwomenlove。Butwhyshouldshenotsohavelovedhim？Wouldshenothavedonesocouldshethenhaveunderstoodhowtrueandfirmhewas？Andthen，independentlyofherself，throwingherselfasideforthetimeasshewasboundtodowhenthinkingofonesogoodtoherasArthurFletcher，shefoundthatnopersonaljoycoulddrownthegriefwhichshesharedwithhim。Foramomenttheideaofacomparisonbetweenthemenforceditselfuponher，——butshedroveitfromherasshehurriedbackintothehouse。