not wavering on the
principle, nor because of anything I should have to face myself. If I
have any hesitation, it's only because of what it would mean for papa."

He allowed an instant to pass while he looked down at her gravely. "And
he's not the only one, you know," he said, with all the significance he
could put into his tone.

His hint, however, was thrown away, since she was intent on her own line
of thought. With a slight nod of the head, dignified rather than
discourteous, she departed, leaving him, to the great interest of the
passers-by, leaning on his stick and staring after her.

X

As Olivia continued on her way toward Rodney Temple's she was able to
make it clear to herself that a chief reason for her dislike of Davenant
sprang from his immovability. There was something about him like a giant
rock. She got the impression that one might dash against him forever and
hurt no one but oneself. It was a trait new to her among American men,
whom she generally found too yielding where women were concerned. This
man had an aloofness, too, that was curiously disconcerting. He made no
approaches; he took no liberties. If he showed anything that resembled a
personal sentiment toward her, it was dislike. Making that reflection
and using that word, she was almost startled. A woman had sometimes
disliked her; she knew that; but a man--never! And yet it was difficult
to interpret Davenant's bearing toward her in any other way. It was a
bearing in which there were no concessions to her whatever, while there
was in it--it was only too plain!--a distinct intention to ignore her.
For the time being this personal element in the situation loomed larger
than any other. It challenged her; it even annoyed her. At the same time
it gave Davenant an importance in her eyes which she was far from
willing to concede.

Rodney Temple's house, which was really within the borders of Cambridge,
built about 1840 by some Harvard professor in easy circumstances, had
originally resembled a square brick box. In the course of seventy years
it had passed through the hands of several owners, each of whom had
built on an additional box according to his needs. To the north a
rectangular wing of one story had been thrown out as a drawing-room; to
the south a similar projection formed the library and study. A smaller
square crowned the edifice as a cupola, while cubes of varying
dimensions were half visible at the back. Against the warm, red