“Bah!  I’m not afraid of him.  She could have taken him long since had she so wished.”

Others who had seats at the table now approached, and prevented further interchange of words on so delicate a subject.  Nevertheless Mr. Muir’s arrow had not flown wide of the mark, and Graydon thought that Miss Wildmere was unnecessarily cordial toward his rival, and that Mr. Wildmere, who had also come from the city, was decidedly complacent over the fact.

Graydon’s furtive observation was now cut short by the entrance of Madge, and even he was dazzled by a beauty that attracted many eyes.  It was not merely a lovely woman who was advancing toward him, but a woman whose nature was profoundly excited.  What though she moved in quiet, well-bred grace, and greeted Mr. Muir with natural cordiality?  The aroused spiritual element was not wanting in the expression of her face or in the dignity of her carriage.  Her deep, suppressed feeling, which bordered on despair; her womanly pride, which would disguise all suffering at every cost, gave to her presence a subtle power, felt none the less because intangible.  It was evident that she neither saw nor cared for the strangers who were looking their curiosity and admiration; and Graydon understood her barely well enough to think, “Something, whatever it may be, makes her unlike other girls.  She was languidly indifferent at dinner; now she is superbly indifferent.  This morning and yesterday she was a gay young girl, eager for a mountain scramble or a frolic of any kind.  How many more phases will she exhibit before the week is over?”

Poor Madge could not have answered that question herself.  She was under the control of one of the chief inspirations of feeling and action.  Moods of which she had never dreamed would become inevitable; thoughts which nothing external could suggest would arise in her own heart and determine her manner.

In ceasing to hope one also ceases to fear, and Graydon admitted to himself that he had never before felt the change in Madge so deeply.  The weak, timid little girl he had once known now looked as if she could quietly face anything.  The crowded room, the stare of strangers, were simply as if they were not; the approach of a thunder-gust in the sultry evening was unheeded; when a loud peal drowned her voice, she simply waited till she could be heard again, and then went on without a tremor in her tones, while all around her people were nervous, starting, and exclaiming.  There was not the faintest suggestion of high tragedy in her manner.  To a casual observer it was merely the somewhat proud and cold reserve of a lady in a public place, while under the eyes of a strange and miscellaneous assemblage.  Graydon imagined that it might veil some resentment because he had been so remiss in his attentions.  He could scarcely maintain this view, however, for she was as cordial to him as to any one, while at the same time giving the impression that he was scarcely in her thoughts at all.