He was sensible that he was attracted as he had never
been attracted by woman before. He had felt something of this on the
night he had met her, and he had felt it more strongly on the occasion
of their second interview; but now he was aware that it had suddenly
taken the form of an overmastering desire for possession. He was by
nature an impulsive man, but he was a man of the world as well, and
he had his impulses pretty well subordinated to interest and
common-sense; nevertheless he felt very much like doing a rash and
impulsive thing at the present moment. He was a man of rapid thought,
and these reflections chased each other through his mind much more
quickly than I have been able to take them down, and Miss Penrhyn
had averted her gaze and was playing nervously with some flowers in
a basket on a pedestal beside her. She was acutely aware that she had
made a fool of herself, and imagined that his hesitation was due to
a polite desire to arrange his reply in such wise as not to make his
appreciation of the fact too crudely apparent. At the same time she
was a little exhausted under the reaction of a short but very severe
mental strain.
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