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Book, page 61 / 114 It was true; he _had_ forgotten. That soft, reproachful glance touched him, his distrust melted under the new charm, and he answered with real feeling in voice and face, "I treat you as an equal because you _are_ one; and when I offered help, it is not to my sister's governess alone, but to Lady Howard's daughter." "Who told you that?" she demanded, sitting erect. "My uncle. Do not reproach him. It shall go no further, if you forbid it. Are you sorry that I know it?" "Yes." "Why?" "Because I will not be pitied!" And her eyes flashed as she made a half-defiant gesture. "Then, if I may not pity the hard fate which has befallen an innocent life, may I admire the courage which meets adverse fortune so bravely, and conquers the world by winning the respect and regard of all who see and honor it?" Miss Muir averted her face, put up her hand, and answered hastily, "No, no, not that! Do not be kind; it destroys the only barrier now left between us. Be cold to me as before, forget what I am, and let me go on my way, unknown, unpitied, and unloved!" Her voice faltered and failed as the last word was uttered, and she bent her face upon her hand. Something jarred upon Coventry in this speech, and moved him to say, almost rudely, "You need have no fears for me. Lucia will tell you what an iceberg I am." "Then Lucia would tell me wrong. I have the fatal power of reading character; I know you better than she does, and I see--" There she stopped abruptly. "What? Tell me and prove your skill," he said eagerly. Turning, she fixed her eyes on him with a penetrating power that made
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