"She turned, placed one hand on his shoulder, and said in a calm,
but kind tone--
"`I am very sorry, Abel, but I cannot help it.'
"I slipped aside, that she might not see me, and we returned by
separate paths.
"I slept very little that night. The conviction which I chased
away from my mind as often as it returned, that our Arcadian
experiment was taking a ridiculous and at the same time
impracticable development, became clearer and stronger. I felt
sure that our little community could not hold together much longer
without an explosion. I had a presentiment that Eunice shared my
impressions. My feelings towards her had reached that crisis where
a declaration was imperative: but how to make it? It was a
terrible struggle between my shyness and my affection. There was
another circumstance in connection with this subject, which
troubled me not a little. Miss Ringtop evidently sought my
company, and made me, as much as possible, the recipient of her
sentimental outpourings. I was not bold enough to repel her--
indeed I had none of that tact which is so useful in such
emergencies,--and she seemed to misinterpret my submission.
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