then, just when he was full of sympathy and eagerness to be of use to
her, everything seemed suddenly to have changed, and the events that
followed had been wholly, as it were, out of his reach. He thought over
the matter with a little sensation, which, if he had been less simple
and generous a man, might have been offence. Even as it was, he felt
uncomfortably divided between his real interest in his old friends, and
a temptation to pretend that he was not interested at all. He
remembered, too, with a serio-comical kind of remorse, the manner in
which he had spoken to Mrs. Costello about Maurice. He was obliged to
confess to himself that Maurice had never said a word to him which could
be taken as expressing any other than a brotherly feeling of regard for
Lucia; he had certainly _fancied_ that there was another kind of
affection in his thoughts; but it was no part of the old soldier's code
of honour to sanction the betrayal of a secret discovered by chance, and
he felt guilty in remembering how far the warmth of his friendship had
carried him. He considered, by way of tormenting himself yet further,
that it was perfectly possible for a young man, being daily in the
company of a beautiful and charming girl, to fancy himself in love with
her, and yet, on passing into a different world and seeing other
charming girls, to discover that he had been mistaken. It is true that
if any other person had suggested that Maurice might have done this, Mr.
Leigh would have been utterly offended and indignant; nevertheless,
having proposed the idea to himself, he tried to look upon it as quite
natural and justifiable. After all, this second theory of inconstancy
rested upon the first theory of supposed love, and that upon guesses and
surmises, so that the whole edifice was just as shadowy and
unsubstantial as it could well be. But then it is curious to see how
much real torment people manage to extract from visionary troubles.

While his neighbours were still at Moose Island Mr. Leigh received two