Page:Gissing - The Nether World, vol. II, 1889.djvu/134

 had been seated for a minute or two, neither speaking, Sidney turned to his companion with a grave look. At the same instant Michael also had raised his eyes and seemed on the point of saying something of importance. They regarded each other. The old man’s face was set in an expression of profound feeling, and his lips moved tremulously before words rose to them.

“What were you going to say, Sidney?” he asked, reading the other’s features.

“Something which I hope won’t be displeasing to you. I was going to speak of Jane. Since she has been living with you she has grown from a child to a woman. When I was talking with her in the garden on Saturday night I felt this change more distinctly than I had ever done before. I understood that it had made a change in myself. I love her, Mr. Snowdon, and it’s my dearest hope that she may come to feel the same for me.”

Michael was more agitated than the speaker; he raised a hand to his forehead and closed his eyes as if the light pained them. But the