She looked at me very strangely as she spoke , but I could see that all the anger had gone out of her face . She seemed pleased and yet sad . But I am glad they have forgiven us . '' She did not tell him how glad she was , and how unhappy she had been over the thought that she was never to see him again . Yesterday she would have told him all frankly and fully ; but for her yesterday was a lifetime away -- a lifetime in which she had come into her heritage of womanly dignity and reserve . The kiss which Eric had left on her lips , the words her uncle and aunt had said to her , the tears she had shed for the first time on a sleepless pillow -- all had conspired to reveal her to herself . She did not yet dream that she loved Eric Marshall , or that he loved her . But she was no longer the child to be made a dear comrade of . She was , though quite unconsciously , the woman to be wooed and won , exacting , with sweet , innate pride , her dues of allegiance . CHAPTER XIII . A SWEETER WOMAN NE'ER DREW BREATH Thenceforward Eric Marshall was a constant visitor at the Gordon homestead . He soon became a favourite with Thomas and Janet , especially the latter . He liked them both , discovering under all their outward peculiarities sterling worth and fitness of character . Thomas Gordon was surprisingly well read and could floor Eric any time in argument , once he became sufficiently warmed up to attain fluency of words . Eric hardly recognized him the first time he saw him thus animated . His bent form straightened , his sunken eyes flashed , his face flushed , his voice rang like a trumpet , and he poured out a flood of eloquence which swept Eric 's smart , up-to-date arguments away like straws in the rush of a mountain torrent . Eric enjoyed his own defeat enormously , but Thomas Gordon was ashamed of being thus drawn out of himself , and for a week afterwards confined his remarks to `` Yes '' and `` No , '' or , at the outside , to a brief statement that a change in the weather was brewing . Janet never talked on matters of church and state ; such she plainly considered to be far beyond a woman 's province . But she listened with lurking interest in her eyes while Thomas and Eric pelted on each other with facts and statistics and opinions , and on the rare occasions when Eric scored a point she permitted herself a sly little smile at her brother 's expense . Of Neil , Eric saw but little .
The Italian boy avoided him , or if they chanced XXXXX meet passed him by with sullen , downcast eyes .
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