Armitage's ball. Though this girl's love
had been so grand a thing to have achieved, he was quite sure from that
moment that it would be his forever.
With Mountjoy Scarborough there had never come such a moment, and never
could; yet he had been very confident, so that he had lived on the
assurance that such a moment would come. And the self-deportment natural
to her had been such that he had shown his assurance. He never would
have succeeded; but he should not the less love her sincerely. And when
the time came for him to think what he should do with himself, those few
days after his father's death, he turned to her as his one prospect of
salvation. If his cousin Florence would be good to him all might yet be
well. He had come by that time to lose his assurance. He had recognized
Harry Annesley as his enemy, as has been told often enough in these
pages. Harry was to him a hateful stumbling-block. And he had not been
quite as sure of her fidelity to another as Harry had been sure of it to
himself. Tretton might prevail. Trettons do so often prevail. And the
girl's mother was all on his side. So he had gone to Cheltenham, true as
the needle to the pole, to try his luck yet once again. He had gone to
Cheltenham, and there he found Harry Annesley.
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