She shrank from the knowledge. It seemed to lay a heavy sense
of responsibility upon her.
Yet she could not find it in her heart to regret her decision. She felt
deeply thankful that the mothering, protective impulse which had almost led
her into promising to marry Tony had been stayed by Lady Susan's wise
words. This hot-headed, undisciplined boy, despite his lovableness and
charm, was not the type of man who would make a woman of Ann's fine fibre
happy as his wife. Perhaps, unconsciously to herself, she was mentally
contrasting him with some one else--with a man who, stern, and embittered
though he might be, yet gave her a curious feeling of reliance, a sense of
secret reserves of strength that would never fail whatever demand life
might make upon them.
It seemed to her as if she and Eliot had drawn nearer to each other during
their talk together on the deserted railway platform--as though some
intangible barrier between them had been broken down. She could not put
into actual words the thought which flitted fugitively through her mind--it
was too vague and indeterminate. Only she was subconsciously aware that
some change had taken place--that their relation to each other was
curiously altered.
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