But the night and the silence brought him neither repose nor counsel.  A multitude of bewildering, audacious hopes and distracting fears strove for mastery in his mind, upsetting altogether the calm and cool judgment on which he prided himself.  His was not a nature to harbor illusions; he had a hard way of looking at things; and yet—­and yet—­might not this chance speech of Lord Evelyn have been something more than a bit of good-humored raillery?  Lord Evelyn was Natalie’s intimate friend; he knew all her surroundings; he was a quick observer; he was likely to know if this thing was possible.  But, on the other hand, how was it possible that so beautiful a creature, in the perfect flower of her youth, should be without a lover?  He forced himself to remember that she and her father seemed to see no society at all.  Perhaps she was too useful to him, and he would not have her entangle herself with many friends.  Perhaps they had led too nomadic a life.  But even in hotels abroad, how could she have avoided the admiration she was sure to evoke?  And in Florence, mayhap, or Mentone, or Madrid; and here he began to conjure up a host of possible rivals, all foreigners, of course, and all equally detestable, and to draw pictures for him of tables d’hote, with always the one beautiful figure there, unconscious, gentle, silent, but drawing to her all men’s eyes.

There was but the one way of putting an end to this maddening uncertainty.  He dared not claim an interview with her; she might be afraid of implying too much by granting it; various considerations might dictate a refusal.  But he could write; and, in point of fact, writing-materials were on the table.  Again and again he had sat down and taken the pen in his hand, only to get up as often and go and stare out into the yellow glare of the night.  For an instant his shadow would fall on the foliage of the trees below, and then pass away again like a ghost.

At two-and-twenty love is reckless, and glib of speech; it takes little heed of the future; the light straw-flame, for however short a period, leaps up merrily enough.  But at two-and-thirty it is more alive to consequences; it is not the present moment, but the duration of life, that it regards; it seeks to proceed with a sure foot.  And at this crisis, in the midst of all this irresolution, that was unspeakably vexatious to a man of his firm nature, Brand demanded of himself his utmost power of self-control.  He would not imperil the happiness of his life by a hasty, importunate appeal.  When at length he sat down, determined not to rise until he had sent her this message, he forced himself to write—­at the beginning, at least—­in a roundabout and indifferent fashion, so that she should not be alarmed.  He began by excusing his writing to her, saying he had scarcely ever had a chance of talking to her, and that he wished to tell her something of what had happened to him since the memorable evening on which he had first met her at her father’s