Spencer looked across at Madison -- perhaps it was accidental . `` I think not , '' he said . `` If , as you say , love will come some time , it would be a very unpleasant revelation if it came in hopeless guise , and one never knows what may happen . '' Miss Thayer was conscious of a distinct fluttering of her heart as she went across to the piano . This was a new sensation for her , and worthy of being analyzed . After the M.P.s had gone she asked Mrs. Hill who Mr. Spencer was . `` Oh , John Spencer , '' said Mrs. Hill carelessly . `` He 's at the head of the Land Office here . That 's really all I know about him . Jack says he is a downright good fellow and all that , you know . But he 's no earthly good in a social way ; he ca n't talk or he wo n't . He 's flat . So different from Mr. Madison , is n't he ? '' `` Very , '' said Violet emphatically . After Mrs. Hill had gone out Violet walked to the nearest mirror and looked at herself with her forefinger in the dimple of her chin . `` It is very odd , '' she said . She did not mean the dimple . * * * * * Spencer had told her he was not coming back . She did not believe this , but she did not expect him for a few days . Consequently , when he appeared the very next evening she was surprised .
Madison , to whom she was talking when Spencer entered , does not know XXXXX this day what she had started to say to him , for she never finished her sentence .
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