Page 236 - of-human-bondage-

do then.
‘I can’t go in yet. I shall stay here and think. My cheeks
are burning. I want the night-air. Good-night.’
He held out his hand seriously, and she took it in silence.
He thought she stifled a sob. Oh, it was magnificent! When,
after a decent interval during which he had been rather
bored in the dark garden by himself, he went in he found
that Miss Wilkinson had already gone to bed.
After that things were different between them. The next
day and the day after Philip showed himself an eager lover.
He was deliciously flattered to discover that Miss Wilkin-
son was in love with him: she told him so in English, and
she told him so in French. She paid him compliments.
No one had ever informed him before that his eyes were
charming and that he had a sensual mouth. He had nev-
er bothered much about his personal appearance, but now,
when occasion presented, he looked at himself in the glass
with satisfaction. When he kissed her it was wonderful to
feel the passion that seemed to thrill her soul. He kissed
her a good deal, for he found it easier to do that than to say
the things he instinctively felt she expected of him. It still
made him feel a fool to say he worshipped her. He wished
there were someone to whom he could boast a little, and he
would willingly have discussed minute points of his con-
duct. Sometimes she said things that were enigmatic, and
he was puzzled. He wished Hayward had been there so that
he could ask him what he thought she meant, and what he
had better do next. He could not make up his mind whether
he ought to rush things or let them take their time. There