Black night lay over the city, and silence; the river flowed unseen
through the darkness; but a thousand golden points of fire mapped out
the lines of the Embankment and the long curves of the distant bridges.
The infrequent sounds that could be heard were strangely distinct, even
when they were faint and remote. There was a slight rustling of wind in
the trees below the window.
But the night and the silence brought him neither repose nor counsel. A
multitude of bewildering, audacious hopes and distracting fears strove
for mastery in his mind, upsetting altogether the calm and cool judgment
on which he prided himself. His was not a nature to harbor illusions; he
had a hard way of looking at things; and yet--and yet--might not this
chance speech of Lord Evelyn have been something more than a bit of
good-humored raillery? Lord Evelyn was Natalie's intimate friend; he
knew all her surroundings; he was a quick observer; he was likely to
know if this thing was possible. But, on the other hand, how was it
possible that so beautiful a creature, in the perfect flower of her
youth, should be without a lover? He forced himself to remember that she
and her father seemed to see no society at all.
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