Desirous of learning the language, but far more desirous of commending himself to Euphra, Hugh began in downright earnest.  That very evening, he felt that he had a little hold of the language.  Harry was left to his own resources.  Nor was there any harm in this in itself:  Hugh had a right to part of every day for his own uses.  But then, he had been with Harry almost every evening, or a great part of it, and the boy missed him much; for he was not yet self-dependent.  He would have gone to Euphrasia, but somehow she happened to be engaged that evening.  So he took refuge in the library, where, in the desolation of his spirit, Polexander began, almost immediately, to exercise its old dreary fascination upon him.  Although he had not opened the book since Hugh had requested him to put it away, yet he had not given up the intention of finishing it some day; and now he took it down, and opened it listlessly, with the intention of doing something towards the gradual redeeming of the pledge he had given to himself.  But he found it more irksome than ever.  Still he read on; till at length he could discover no meaning at all in the sentences.  Then he began to doubt whether he had read the words.  He fixed his attention by main force on every individual word; but even then he began to doubt whether he could say he had read the words, for he might have missed seeing some of the letters composing each word.  He grew so nervous and miserable over it, almost counting every letter, that at last he burst into tears, and threw the book down.

His intellect, which in itself was excellent, was quite of the parasitic order, requiring to wind itself about a stronger intellect, to keep itself in the region of fresh air and possible growth.  Left to itself, its weak stem could not raise it above the ground:  it would grow and mass upon the earth, till it decayed and corrupted, for lack of room, light, and air.  But, of course, there was no danger in the meantime.  This was but the passing sadness of an occasional loneliness.

He crept to Hugh’s room, and received an invitation to enter, in answer to his gentle knock; but Hugh was so absorbed in his new study, that he hardly took any notice of him, and Harry found it almost as dreary here as in the study.  He would have gone out, but a drizzling rain was falling; and he shrank into himself at the thought of the Ghost’s Walk.  The dinner-bell was a welcome summons.

Hugh, inspirited by the reaction from close attention, by the presence of Euphra, and by the desire to make himself generally agreeable, which sprung from the consciousness of having done wrong, talked almost brilliantly, delighting Euphra, overcoming Harry with reverent astonishment, and even interesting slow Mr. Arnold.  With the latter Hugh had been gradually becoming a favourite; partly because he had discovered in him what he considered high-minded sentiments; for, however stupid and conventional Mr. Arnold might be, he had a foundation of sterling worthiness of character.  Euphra, instead of showing any jealousy of this growing friendliness, favoured it in every way in her power, and now and then alluded to it in her conversations with Hugh, as affording her great satisfaction.