They were passing dwellings, meeting strangers,
and they could not, with the readiness of natures less finely
organized, descend to commonplaces. Each had abundant food for
thought, while even Graydon now believed that he so truly understood
Madge, and had so much in common with her, that words were no longer
needed for companionship.
As they approached the piazza, they saw that Arnault was still Miss
Wildmere's devoted attendant. His presence meant hope for Madge, and
Graydon was slightly surprised at his own indifference. He felt that
the girl to whom he regarded himself as bound belonged to a different
world, a lower plane of life than that of which he had been given a
glimpse. The best elements of his nature had been profoundly moved,
and brought to the surface, and he found them alien to the pair on
the piazza. He was even self-reproachful that he saw with so little
resentment Stella's present companionship.
"While I don't like her course at all," he thought, "I must believe
that she is acting from the most self-sacrificing motives. What
troubles me most now is that I have a growing sense of the narrowness
of her nature."
He had never come from her presence with his manhood aroused to its
depths.
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