conversing
in a tone that would be a whisper if it dared. To Gower it is already a
whisper, and frenzy ensues.

Wild thoughts arise within his breast; something it seems to him must be
done, and that _soon_. Shall he throw this vile wool, this scarlet
abomination, in Julia's placid face, and with a naughty word defy her to
hold him prisoner any longer? Or shall he fling himself bodily upon
Roger and exterminate him? Or shall he publicly upbraid Dulce with her
perfidy? No; this last is too mild a course, and something tells him
would not create the havoc that alone can restore peace to his bosom.
Shall he--

Oh, blessed sound, the dressing bell. Now she must tear herself away
from this new-found cousin and go up-stairs--doubtless to array herself
in her choicest garments for his delectation later on. He grinds his
teeth again, as this thought comes to torment him.

Regardless of Julia's cry of horror and remonstrance, he drops the wool
and rises to his feet, leaving it a hopeless mass on the carpet. He
makes a step in Dulce's direction, but she, too, has got up, and before
he can reach her has disappeared through the doorway, and is half-way up
the old oak staircase.

He takes her in to dinner, certainly, later on, but finds, on seating
himself, that Roger, by some unaccountable chance, has secured the seat
on her other side. He finds out, too, presently, that she is devoting
all her conversation to her cousin, and seems curiously inquisitive
about his travels. She appears indeed positively athirst for information
on this subject; and the soup is as naught, and the fish as sawdust, in
the eyes of Mr. Gower.

"You were in Egypt, too? Tell me all about it. I have always so _longed_
to hear about Egypt," says Dulce, with soft animation.

"Egypt?" says Roger, with some natural hesitation as to how to begin;
Egypt is a big place, and just now seems a long way off. "Well, there is
a good deal of it, you know; what do you want to know most?"

"Whether you enjoyed yourself--whether you were happy there?" replies
she, promptly. I daresay it isn't quite the answer he had expected,
because he looks at her for half a minute or so very intently.

"Happy? That includes such a great deal," he says, at length. "It is a
very interesting country beyond doubt, and there are Pyramids, you know;
you heard of 'em once or twice, I shouldn't wonder; and there are
beggars and robbers, and more sand than I ever saw in my life,
and--_No_