and then glided to the window for the fourth time. She peeped at the
side a good while, with superfluous slyness or shyness, and presently
she drew back, blushing crimson; then she peeped again, still more
furtively; then retired softly to her frame, and, for the first time,
set to work in earnest. As she plied her harpoon, smiling now, the large
and vivid blush, that had suffused her face and throat, turned from
carnation to rose, and melted away slowly, but perceptibly, and ever so
sweetly; and somebody knocked at the street door.

The blow seemed to drive her deeper into her work. She leaned over it,
graceful as a willow, and so absorbed, she could not even see the door
of the room open and Dr. Staines come in.

All the better: her not perceiving that slight addition to her furniture
gives me a moment to describe him.

A young man, five feet eleven inches high, very square shouldered and
deep chested, but so symmetrical, and light in his movements, that his
size hardly struck one at first. He was smooth shaved, all but a short,
thick, auburn whisker; his hair was brown. His features no more then
comely: the brow full, the eyes wide apart and deep-seated, the lips
rather thin, but expressive, the chin solid and square. It was a face
of power, and capable of harshness; but relieved by an eye of unusual
color, between hazel and gray, and wonderfully tender. In complexion
he could not compare with Rosa; his cheek was clear, but pale; for
few young men had studied night and day so constantly. Though but
twenty-eight years of age, he was literally a learned physician; deep in
hospital practice; deep in books; especially deep in German science,
too often neglected or skimmed by English physicians. He had delivered a
course of lectures at a learned university with general applause.