"Very good; I see. You pity me—that's all." And Edward Rosier looked all round, inconsequently,with his single glass. It was a revelation to him that people shouldn't be more pleased; but he was at least too proud to show that the deficiency struck him as general.
Isabel for a moment said nothing. His manner and appearance had not the dignity of the deepest tragedy;his little glass, among other things, was against that.But she suddenly felt touched; her own unhappiness,after all, had something in common with his, and it came over her, more than before, that here, in recognisable, if not in romantic form, was the most affecting thing in the world—young love struggling with adversity. "Would you really be very kind to her?" she finally asked in a low tone.