reluctant or conniving; and he harangued the people, he bore off his
captive, he held her firmly as he had sworn he would; he defied
authority, he was a public rebel--he with his detected little secret aim,
which he nursed like a shamed mother of an infant, fond but afraid to be
proud of it! She had seen that he aimed at standing well with the world
and being one with it honourably: holding to his principles of course:
but a disposition that way had been perceived, and the vision of him in
open rebellion because of his shy catching at the thread of an alliance
with the decorous world, carved an ironic line on her jaw.

Full surely he would not be baffled without smiting the world on the
face. And he might suffer for it; the Rudigers would suffer likewise.

She considered them very foolish people. Her survey of the little
nobility beneath her station had previously enabled her to account for
their disgust of such a suitor as Alvan, and maintain that they would
oppose him tooth and nail. Owing to his recent success, the anticipation
of a peaceful surrender to him seemed now on the whole to carry most
weight. This girl gives Alvan her hand and her family repudiate her.
Volatile, flippant, shallow as she is, she must have had some turn for
him; a physical spell was on her once, and it will be renewed when they
meet. It sometimes inspires a semblance of courage; she may determine;
she may be stedfast long enough for him to take his measures to bear her
away. And the Brocken witches congratulate him on his prize!

Almost better would it be, she thought, that circumstance should thwart
him and kindle his own demon element.

The forenoon, the noon, the afternoon, went round.