"This room is insufferably warm," I said; "I am going into the garden.
You had better see if Clare wants anything, Coralie."

So, like many another man, I ran away, not knowing how to meet my fair
adversary on equal grounds.




CHAPTER VIII.


Walking among the whispering leaves, the conclusion I came to was that I
must take some precaution, or Coralie d'Aubergne would marry me whether
I was willing or not. A siren is a faint shadow compared with a
beautiful woman resolved to win a man whether he wants winning or not.

Why not risk my fate and ask Agatha to be my wife? There was a faint
hope in my heart that she would not refuse me, yet she was so modest, so
retiring, that though I had most perseveringly sought her favor since
the first moment I had seen her, I could not tell whether she cared for
me or not.

To judge by Coralie's standard, she did not like me. In all our
conversation it half maddened me to see the lovely eyes I loved so
dearly dropped shyly away from me.

It may not be a very elegant comparison, but she always reminded me of
some shy, beautiful bird. She had a bright, half-startled way of looking