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342 here!" these same close observers wondered whether, after all, the brilliant Professor Balloure might not be a hypocrite. But he talked so well on high themes, he was so full of noble sentiments, so sure to be on the right side of all questions,—theoretical or practical,—it was hard to believe the man hollow-hearted. And yet, hollow he was to the very core, always excepting his sentiment toward Susan Sweetser. This was the one true, genuine thing he bore about him. He had been irresistibly attracted toward her while she was a mere child. Her frankness, her courage, her generosity, all allured him by the very greatness of the contrast they bore to his own traits. Out of his own meagerness was born his appreciation of her nobility. He looked back at his own youth,—at the time when he sold himself for money,—and he wondered, with passionate admiration, at the fearlessness, generosity, independence of this girl. Susan had no beauty to thrill a man's senses; but she had the perpetually varying charm of overflowing life and activity, and fullness of thought. When Professor Balloure was inquired of by Madame Delancy if he would give a course of lectures, accompanied by recitations, to the young ladies of her senior class, he recollected instantly that Mrs. Lawton had told him that this would be Susan's last year at school, and he consented to give the lectures for the sole and simple purpose of thus bringing himself into relation with her