r? A
challenge--a demand that she should submit--that she should come down
from those serene heights of independence and yield herself a willing
and gracious helpmeet and companion for life to this daring suitor;
might not that have secured for him this wondrous prize? If she had any
regard for him at all, she might have been startled into confession. A
couple of words--there by the side of the Aivron--might have been
enough. No theatrical professions nor mock homage, no kneeling at her
feet or swearing by eternal stars; but a look into her eyes--a clasp of
the hand--a single question? Something he had indeed meant to say to
her, as they stood face to face there for the last time--something, he
hardly knew what; and yet his hesitation had been but natural; he might
have been hurried into saying too much; he dared not offend. Nay, even
as he held her hand, he was unaware of the true state of his feeling
towards her; it was this separation--this ever-increasing distance
between them--that had enabled him to understand.

And then again his mood changed into one of bitter self-reproach and
self-contempt. What miserable folly was this crying for the moon--this
picturing of a marriage between the daughter of an ancient and wealthy
house--one, too, who was unmistakably proud of her lineage--and a singer
in comic opera! Not for nothing had he heard of the twin brothers
Cunyngham who fell on Flodden Field. It is true that at the present time
he and she mingled in the same society; for he was the pet and plaything
of the hour in the fashionable world; but he was not entirely blinded by
that favor; he did not wholly mistake his position. And even
supposing--a wild conjecture!--that she entertained an exceptional
regard for him--that she could be induced to think of marrying
him--would she be content that her husband remained on the stage and
painted his face every evening and postured before the footlights? On
the other hand, apart from the stage, what was he?--a mere nobody, not
too-well instructed, having no particular gifts of wit or conversation,
without even a well-filled purse--the meanest of qualifications--to
recommend him. No doubt they might make a very pretty bargain between
them; he might go to her and say,

"Let there be a sacrifice on both sides. I give up the theatre--I give
up the applause, the popularity, the opportunities of making pleasant
friendships--all the agreeable things of a stage-life; and you on your