Page:Magdalen by J S Machar.pdf/61

 looked at her, and he felt embarrassed by all his latest plans. He did not wish to think of them even. The blood rushed to his head, and whole streams of great speeches flooded his brain and dinned in his soul.

In a subdued voice he told her that to-day was the last time he had come to see her; that for days and nights he had been doing nothing but thinking of her, and that now he wanted her decision. He asked her whether she wanted to give up her present life, and that poisonous atmosphere; whether she wished again to live in the world, among decent people,—and he continued speaking in that strain. A feeling of elation took possession of him, and he chose words, expressions, and elevated phrases from the poems and novels which he had read at some time or other.

He told her that he was sufficiently well-to-do, that he was endowed with an active mind, that be was experienced in the ways of the world, and that he also was quite cul-