They were simply a tribute to
the fact, of which she was perfectly aware, that those he had just
uttered would have excited surprise on the part of a vulgar world.
And, moreover, if anything beside the sense she had already acquired
that Lord Warburton was not a loose thinker had been needed to
convince her, the tone in which he replied would quite have served the
purpose.
"One's right in such a matter is not measured by the time, Miss
Archer; it's measured by the feeling itself. If I were to wait three
months it would make no difference; I shall not be more sure of what I
mean than I am to-day. Of course I've seen you very little, but my
impression dates from the very first hour we met. I lost no time, I
fell in love with you then. It was at first sight, as the novels
say; I know now that's not a fancy-phrase, and I shall think better of
novels for evermore. Those two days I spent here settled it; I don't
know whether you suspected I was doing so, but I paid- mentally
speaking I mean- the greatest possible attention to you. Nothing you
said, nothing you did, was lost upon me. When you came to Lockleigh
the other day- or rather when you went away- I was perfectly sure.
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