"Certainly, Mr. Leigh, with great pleasure; though perhaps you would prefer to take the book and look through it yourself? My knowledge of Chaldee is very limited."
"Pardon me! my mental vis inertiae vetoes the bare suggestion. I study by proxy whether an opportunity offers, for laziness is the only hereditary taint in the Leigh blood."
"As I am very much interested in this ethnological question, I shall enter into the search with great eagerness."
"Thank you. Do you take the unity or diversity side of the discussion?"
Her merry laugh rang out through the forest that bordered the road.
"Oh, Mr. Leigh! what a ridiculous question! I do not presume to take any side, for I do not pretend to understand or appreciate all the arguments advanced; but I am anxious to acquaint myself with the bearings of the controversy. The idea of my 'taking sides' on a subject which gray-haired savants have spent their laborious lives in striving to elucidate seems extremely ludicrous."
"Still, you are entitled to an idea, either pro or con, even at the outset."
"I have an idea that neither you nor I know anything about the matter; and the per saltum plan of 'taking sides' will only add the prop of prejudice to my ignorance. If, with all his erudition, Mr. Hammond still abstains from dogmatizing on this subject, I can well afford to hold my crude opinions in abeyance. I must stop here, Mr. Leigh, at Mrs. Carter's, on an errand for Mrs. Murray. Good morning, sir; I will hunt the passage you require."
"How have I offended you, Miss Edna?"
He took her hand and detained her.
"I am not offended, Mr. Leigh," and she drew back.
"Why do you dismiss me in such a cold, unfriendly way?"
"If I sometimes appear rude, pardon my unfortunate manner, and believe that it results from no unfriendliness."
"You will be at home this evening?"
"Yes, sir, unless something very unusual occurs."
They parted, and during the remainder of the walk Edna could think of nothing but the revelation written in Gordon Leigh's eyes; the immemorial, yet ever new and startling truth, that opened a new vista in life, that told her she was no longer an isolated child, but a woman, regnant over the generous heart of one of the pets of society.
She saw that he intended her to believe he loved her, and suspicious as gossips had made her with reference to his conduct, she could not suppose he was guilty of heartless and contemptible trifling. She trusted his honor; yet the discovery of his affection brought a sensation of regret--of vague self-reproach, and she felt that in future he would prove a source of endless disquiet. Hitherto she had enjoyed his society, henceforth she felt that she must shun it.