He pitied
her, he said, suspecting that she had repented of her rashness, and
because he pitied her he asked her to ride with him that day after the
fast bays, of which he had written to Arthur. Many admiring eyes were
cast after them as they drove away, and Mrs. Hetherton whispered
softly to Mrs. Meredith:
"A match in progress, I see. You have done well for your charming
niece."
And yet matrimony, as concerned himself, was very far from Thornton
Hastings' thoughts that afternoon, when, because he saw that it
pleased Anna to have him do so, he talked to her of Arthur, hoping in
his unselfish heart that what he said in his praise might influence
her to reconsider her decision and give him a different answer. This
was the second day of Thornton Hastings' acquaintance with Anna
Ruthven, but as the days went on, bringing the usual routine of life
at Newport, the drives, the rides, the pleasant piazza talks, and the
quiet moonlight rambles, when Anna was always his companion, Thornton
Hastings came to feel an unwillingness to surrender, even to Arthur
Leighton, the beautiful girl who pleased him better than any one he
had known.
Mrs. Meredith's plans were working well, and so, though the autumn
days had come, and one after another the devotees of fashion were
dropping off, she lingered on, and Thornton Hastings still rode and
walked with Anna Ruthven, until there came a night when they wandered
farther than usual from the hotel, and sat down together on a height
of land which overlooked the placid waters, where the moonlight lay
softly sleeping.
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