"
"And you think his sister would share in that pleasure?" retorted
Yerba. "I warn you, Mr. Hathaway, that you have been quite
justifying the Reverend Mother's doubts about your venerable
pretensions. Everybody is staring at you now."
Paul looked up mechanically. It was true. Whether from some
occult sympathy, from a human tendency to admire obvious fitness
and symmetry, or the innocent love with which the world regards
innocent lovers, they were all observing Yerba and himself with
undisguised attention. A good talker, he quickly led the
conversation to other topics. It was then that he discovered that
Yerba was not only accomplished, but that this convent-bred girl
had acquired a singular breadth of knowledge apart from the
ordinary routine of the school curriculum. She spoke and thought
with independent perceptions and clearness, yet without the
tactlessness and masculine abruptness that is apt to detract from
feminine originality of reflection. By some tacit understanding
that had the charm of mutual confidence, they both exerted
themselves to please the company rather than each other, and Paul,
in the interchange of sallies with Dona Anna, had a certain
pleasure in hearing Yerba converse in Spanish with Don Caesar.
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