Her abasement
and penitence compelled me to show, and indeed to feel, a good deal
of tenderness for her. She was pathetic and pretty in her unusual
earnestness and unexplained distress. I went the length of offering
to put off my expedition until after our wedding; and, although she
besought me to do nothing of the kind, I believe we might in the end
have arranged matters on this footing had we been left to ourselves.
But Mrs. Hipgrave saw fit to intrude on our interview at this point,
and she at once pooh-poohed the notion, declaring that I should be
better out of the way for a few months. Beatrice did not resist her
mother's conclusion; but when we were alone again, she became very
agitated, begging me always to think well of her, and asking if I were
really attached to her. I did not understand this mood, which was very
unlike her usual manner, but I responded with a hearty and warm avowal
of confidence in her; and I met her questions as to my own feelings
by pledging my word very solemnly that absence should, so far as I was
concerned, make no difference, and that she might rely implicitly on
my faithful affection. This assurance seemed to give her very little
comfort, although I repeated it more than once; and when I left her, I
was in a state of some perplexity, for I could not follow the bent
of her thoughts, nor appreciate the feelings that moved her.
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