She was afraid of that; she
averted herself from it; she wished he wouldn't. She felt that if he
should come too near, as it were, it might be in her to flash out
and bid him keep his distance. Pansy came back to Isabel with
another rent in her skirt, which was the inevitable consequence of the
first and which she displayed to Isabel with serious eyes. There
were too many gentlemen in uniform; they wore those dreadful spurs,
which were fatal to the dresses of little maids. It hereupon became
apparent that the resources of women are innumerable. Isabel devoted
herself to Pansy's desecrated drapery; she fumbled for a pin and
repaired the injury; she smiled and listened to her account of her
adventures. Her attention, her sympathy were immediate and active; and
they were in direct proportion to a sentiment with which they were
in no way connected-a lively conjecture as to whether Lord Warburton
might be trying to make love to her. It was not simply his words
just then; it was others as well; it was the reference and the
continuity. This was what she thought about while she pinned up
Pansy's dress. If it were so, as she feared, he was of course
unwitting; he himself had not taken account of his intention.
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