Page:A Virgin Heart.pdf/216

212 "No, that would be too direct. She may have suspicions; I shall try to destroy them. I should be lost if she had certainties. But I have no doubts. She will come of her own accord, she will speak ﬁrst. And I shall look as though I didn't understand; she will have to drag out of me one by one a few ambiguous words."

The days passed. Rose remained in the same melancholy state, ruminating her grief. Still she did not speak, and Leonor foresaw the moment, when, his presence being no longer necessary, he would have to take his leave. The operations on the outside of the house were coming to an end, the weather had made digging impossible and Rose had decided that the interior repairs should be put off till the spring.

Meanwhile Leonor began to suffer in his turn. By living in the same house as Rose he had felt the love, that had to begin with been somewhat chimerical, grow and take root within him. From the moment of their ﬁrst meeting Rose had aroused in him something like a love of love. He had ﬁrst been moved by the generosity of an innocent heart giving itself with so noble a violence. Next, he had felt that