been the means of keeping her out to so late an hour."
"The officers (continued he, but without looking at her) to whose hospitality and politeness I have been so much indebted, since my residence at V———, insisted on my dining with them to-day, and though I wished and tried to leave them at an early hour, they would not suffer me to do so, nor to depart at the one I did, had I not promised to return immediately to them."
The coldness of his manner, the frivolous excuse he made for his want of punctuality, and the intention he avowed of quitting her directly, without any reference to their conversation of the preceding night, all struck Madeline with a conviction, that his sentiments were totally changed since that conversation had taken place: for a change so sudden, so unaccountable, tenderness suggested an enquiry, but pride repeled it, and she would instantly have quitted him with every indication of the disdain he seemed to
