. He could not understand them
in the least, as may be imagined, and having considerable experience he
set them down to the score of a certain girlish shyness, which showed
itself in no other way. He had known women whose shyness manifested
itself in saying disagreeable things for which they were sometimes sorry
afterwards.

"No," he added reflectively. "I don't think I'm a very fickle person."

Clare turned upon him the terrible innocence of her clear blue eyes. She
thought she knew the truth about him too, and that he could not look her
in the face. But she was mistaken. He met her glance fearlessly and
quietly, with a frank smile and a little wonder at its fixed scrutiny.
She would not look away, rude though she might seem, nor be stared out
of countenance by a man whom she believed to be false and untrue. But
his eyes were very bright, and in a few seconds they began to dazzle
her, and she felt her eyelids trembling violently. It was a new
sensation, and a very unpleasant one. It seemed to her that the man had
suddenly got some power over her. She made a strong effort and turned
away her face, and again she blushed with annoyance.

"I beg your pardon," Johnstone said quickly, in a very low voice. "I
didn't mean to be so rude."

Clare said nothing as she sat beside him, but she looked at the opposite
wall, and her hand made an impatient little gesture as the fingers lay
on the edge of the table. Possibly, if her mother had not been on her
other side, she might have answered him. As it was, she felt that she
could not speak just then. She was very much disturbed, as though
something new and totally unknown had got hold of her. It was not only
that she hated the man for his heartlessness, while she felt that he had
some sort of influence over her, which was more than mere attraction.
There was something beyond, deep down in her heart, which was nameless,
and painful, but which she somehow felt that she wanted. And aside from
it all, she was angry with him for having stared her out of countenance,
forgetting that when she had turned upon him she had meant to do the
same by him, feeling quite sure that he could not look her in the face.

They spoke little during the remainder of the meal, for Clare was quite
willing to show that she was angry, though she had little right to be.
After all, she had looked at him, and he had looked at her. After dinner
she disappeared, and was not seen during the remainder of the evenin