wo.

Suddenly, after an absence of months, reappeared lord Forgue--cheerful,
manly, on the best terms with his father, and plainly willing to be on
still better terms with his cousin! He had left the place a mooning
youth; he came back a man of the world--easy in carriage, courteous in
manners, serene in temper, abounding in what seemed the results of
observation, attentive but not too attentive, jolly with Davie, distant
with Donal, polite to all. Donal could hardly receive the evidence of
his senses: he would have wondered more had he known every factor in
the change. All about him seemed to say it should not be his fault if
the follies of his youth remained unforgotten; and his airy carriage
sat well upon him. None the less Donal felt there was no restoration of
the charm which had at first attracted him; that was utterly vanished.
He felt certain he had been going down hill, and was now, instead of
negatively, consciously and positively untrue.

With gradations undefined, but not unmarked of Donal, as if the man
found himself under influences of which the youth had been unaware, he
began to show himself not indifferent to the attractions of his cousin.
He expressed concern that her health was not what it had been; sought
her in her room when she did not appear; professed an interest in
knowing what books she was reading, and what were her studies with
Donal; behaved like a good brother-cousin, who would not be sorry to be
something more.

And now the earl, to the astonishment of the household, began to appear
at table; and, apparently as a consequence of this, Donal was requested
rather than invited to take his meals with the family--not altogether
to his satisfaction, seeing he could not only read while he ate alone,
but could get through more quickly, and have the time thus saved, for
things of greater consequence. His presence made it easier for lord
Forgue to act his part, and the manners he brought to the front left
little to be desired. He bowed to the judgment of Arctura, and seemed
to welcome that of his father, to whom he was now as respectful as
moralist could desire. Yet he sometimes faced a card he did not mean to
show: who that is not absolutely true can escape the mishap!--there was
condescension in his politeness to Donal! and this, had there been
nothing else, would have been enough to revolt Arctura. But in truth he
impressed her altogether as a man of outsides; she felt that she did
not see the